Flynn to push for transparency in local government

DUBLIN CANDIDATE:A "NEW Independent" election candidate has vowed to push for transparency in local government and to make the public proud of their representatives once again.

Mannix Flynn, a writer and actor who is running in Dublin City Council’s South East Inner City ward, said people should consider if voting for the same parties can deliver a different result.

“I think in the last few years councillors have become aligned with Dublin City Council and that the council itself has become aligned with the corporate situation,” Mr Flynn said at a campaign event in Dublin last night.

“I believe that council has forgotten who its allegiance is to, which is the people who pay its way, the residents and tax payers of Dublin.”

He said, that if elected, he would strive to make local government more transparent and accountable, particularly around planning and public spending.

“People are looking to challenge what is currently going on and feel we need voices who will challenge the gardaí, the judiciary, bureaucracy and all government officials from arts to parks.

“The debris of what certain bankers, government officials and the church and State have been at has been washed up on peoples shores in the downturn and this needs consequences and we need to show the world that we can take our democracy to a better place,” he said.

Mr Flynn said that Dublin City Council has increased rents and rates in light of the economic downturn, while authorities in other areas have deferred council tax payments to help businesses.

He also said he would seek to alter how the city’s housing stock is managed.

Mr Flynn, a former resident of Letterfrack Industrial School, said, that following the publication of the Ryan report, generations of people deserved a thorough investigation by the United Nations into how 150,000 people were left at the hand of “felons” who have not been made accountable by the State.