MEET THE CANDIDATES: Community, crime, commuting and coastline the hot topics in Laytown/Bettystown

SALLY HARDING
Bettystown/Laytown is the most hotly contested electoral area after Navan with fifteen candidates chasing just seven seats. 
Commuting, employment, community facilities, traffic management and anti-social behaviour are some of the biggest issues affecting voters in the area that stretches from Mornington and Bettystown through to Julianstown, Duleek and Slane. 
Once nothing more than a busy little seaside resort the villages of Bettystown, Laytown and Mornington have changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. It's now the third biggest town in Meath with its population doubling since 2002 now standing at 11,872, according to the 2016 census.
Concerns on the doorsteps have been the lack of infrastructure to support the rapid expansion of housing in the area and the absence of amenities for people both living in and visiting what was once one of the country's most popular holiday resorts.  

Traffic management and the need for a bypass at Julianstown also remain crucial issues. Those concerns are starting to be addressed with the implementation of the council's beach management plan and things are changing for Meath's gold coast but not before time according to Laytown native and beach management committee chairman Alan Watson.
"Bettystown started off as a small holiday resort and is now one of the largest towns in Meath. The council is now trying to back peddle and put the infrastructure in to support the huge amount of housing developed during the boom years.

"There is very little employment in the area so everyone who comes here must commute and that's only going to get worse because there is no third level facility and no employment opportunities. Where will the 2000 children in the schools go to work or go to third level education? It's not going to be in Laytown, Bettystown and Mornington.
"Over 80% of people here commute to work. It would be terrific to think that being on the M1 corridor, being on the rail line and 20 minutes from the airport that we could reverse the flow in some way and people could come to East Meath.

The lack of parking is having a huge impact on local business as Mr Watson explains, 
"There are no parking facilities in the area, therefore, commuters are parking outside businesses all day so there is no encouragement to start a new business here because nobody would be able to get to it."
"Bettystown, Laytown and Mornington started out as a tourist destination, it could be that again and a great one. The encouragement that we have as a community is that there are a lot of things going on in the background trying to improve the area, they are being talked about but we would like to see them happen."

All seven sitting councillors are seeking re-election including Fine Gael councillor Sharon Tolan who is hoping to secure a second term in Bettystown where she resides. Tolan has been an advocate of the beach management plan, that despite some of its controversial recommendations including the ban on dogs off leads and phased removal of cars promises to revamp the seaside town.
Environmental issues such as illegal dumping and littering along the coast continue to be problematic while commuters are faced with spiralling train fares and no parking facilities. Even though the population has grown massively in recent years, Bettystown/Laytown has no community centre, youth club or library. 
Fine Gael's Paddy Meade has completed his first term as councillor, comes from a farming background wants to continue work in his community as does Sinn Fein's Eimear Ferguson also hoping for re-election to improve services in Laytown, Bettystown and Mornington.

Long term Meath Council County member Independent Tom Kelly is looking for another term as a public representative as is Cllr Stephen McKee who has been working on cross county issues with Louth. 
Laytown man Tom Behan running with Fianna Fail is a new face to the scene along with Slane businessman Peter Whelan who is on the ticket for Peadar Tobin's new political party, Aontu. The free-range pig farm owner wants to highlight problems faced by businesses including insurance and expansion. 
Other newbies include Labour's Annie Hoey, Anthony Connor Direct Democracy Ireland, Rob Corr Social Democrats, William Lacey Solidarity – People Before Profit, Fergal O' Byrne Sinn Féin and Patrick Smith Non-Party. 
Slane man and sitting councillor with Fianna Fail, Wayne Harding, has been a long time campaigner for the Slane Bypass that is expected to see a new route announced soon. 
Elsewhere, in Duleek, independent sitting councillor Sharon Keogan is vying for a seat in both Bettystown-Laytown and in Ashbourne. 

 

(Clockwise) Wayne Harding, Annie Hoey, Thomas Behan, Tom Kelly, Eimear Ferguson and Sharon Keogan.

 

Stephen Mckee and William Lacey