DUNDALK’S FREE NEWSPAPER Fairytale season comes to an end
Brendan picks up national award
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Photos from Credit Union
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Little being done to punish smugglers Wednesday, 14th December, 2016. Vol. 9, Issue 50 • 63 Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth
Tel: 042 9320888. Fax: 042 9329676. Email: editorial@dundalkleader.com; advertising@dundalkleader.com
By Paul Byrne
New legislation which aimed to crack down on smuggling and the sale of illicit goods has failed according to Declan Breathnach TD for Louth. The Fianna Fail TD suggested that authorities are turning a blind eye when it comes to smugglers and urged them to get tough in stamping out this illegal activity which is having an adverse effect on the local retail sector. According to Declan only 232 fines have been issued and 48 paid since the enactment of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 which came into law in January 2016. “The very low amount of fines issued does not reflect the enormous amount of smuggling and sale of illicit
goods being carried out,” stated Declan. "I entered a parliamentary question to the Tanaiste and Minister for Justice asking about the number of persons sent to prison for non-payment; the number of attachment orders imposed; her plans to extend the legislation to allow for recovery of fines by the attachment of social protection payments. "The reply I received shows that a very small amount of fines were issued which would suggest that the authorities are turning a blind eye to this illegal activity. I met with the Retailers Against Smuggling Group recently and I know that there is a huge problem with the smuggling and sale of illicit goods particularly cigarettes, alcohol, fuel, cosmetics and other goods,” noted Declan. Continued on Page 2
Chris takes a poetic look at our streets By Paul Byrne A local man has used his new found love for poetry to lament the state of the roads and footpaths around Dundalk. Chris McShane from Muirhevnamor only began writing poetry six weeks ago after attending a creative writing class in the Men’s Sheds in Seatown. Since then he has penned a number of poems including one bemoaning the dire state of the footpaths and roads around the town. According to Chris he finds poetry an excellent way to convey his thoughts and plans to write many more poems in the
Chris McShane puts his frustrations in verse future. “To be honest I’d never written a poem or even thought about writing a poem in my life before I attended the creative writing classes in the
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Men’s Sheds in Seatown. A man called Tony Henry does the classes down there and he was a great help. About six weeks ago I put pen to paper Continued on Page 13