April 2019FREE!The Meath CoasterMagazine and Services DirectoryExamination, Scale, Polish & X-RaysDon’t su er with ToothacheWe have a walk inEmergency Service.No appointment neededJust call in to our surgery.Save MoneyHave 2 fillings done at the same appointmentBelfast Prices Mon - Fri 8am to 8pmSaturday 9am to 5pmNervous Patient?Don’t worry, we specialise in treating nervous patients. Talkto us and let us putyou at easeWhiteningOur take home teeth whitening kit is thebest value in Ireland€€40 o €450days a weekWe open late6eachJoin us on Facebook or visit us online €40 for Medical Card PatientsFor example multiple crowns (2 or more)We have a team ofAnna, Apryl, Claire, Estefany, Fiona, James, Jill, John, Rebecca, Sara and Shauna are looking forward to meeting youdedicated dentists11 FREE for RSI patientswww.balbriggandentalcare.ie120WALK INEMERGENCY SERVICEWe provide an emergency walk-in dental service. You do not need an appointment, just arrive. Our clinic is open late, 6 days a week. ++Tel: Web: 59 Drogheda Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin(between Supervalu & the Garda Station)Dr. John Heeney & AssociatesB.A., B. Dent. Sc. Hons (T.C.D.), B. Rad (U.C.D.), D.C.R. (London)Tel: 01 - 841 7344www.balbriggandentalcare.ie01841 73 448to8 Dental BalbrigganBalbriggan© March 2019 The Meath Coaster4The Meath CoasterMagazine and Services DirectorySince June 2005, The Meath Coast-er is published monthly and dis-tributed in County Meath between Grange Rath, Donacarney, Mornington, Bettystown, Laytown, Julianstown and Stamullen, as well as in some local shops. Each issue has over 7,000 copies.This month’s cover of a leaping foal by David Stanley. If you have any interesting seasonal photos or of local people or places, send your photos to the Meath Coaster at dermot@meathcoaster.comYour Local MediaWe proudly promote Citizen Journalism which means ordinary citizens “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and disseminating news and information” All our articles are directly submitted by local people. As a local publication serving our communities, if there is something you’d like to submit for publication, please email it to the address below. We try our best to publish all local material but the pages fill up fast! .CONTACT DETAILSAddress for correspondence:The Meath Coaster147 Betaghstown WoodBettystownCo. MeathPhone: 041 9813860 Email: dermot@meathcoaster.comWhere to Get A CoasterYou can get a copy each month from Tesco Bettystown, Dunnes Stores, South-gate; Limited supplies are in Pat’s Cen-tra, Bettystown; Anchorage Supermar-ket, Parish Rooms, Julianstown; St Pats, Stamullen, Centra Stamullen. The Coaster is online @ www.meathcoaster.com/library, All Rights Reserved© Meath Coaster 2019PRINT DEADLINESThe Coaster goes to print on the Friday before the last Sunday in every month. The closing date for the MAY issue is Friday April 26th Distribution begins with the weekend of the First Sunday in the monthADVERTISING RATESThe Meath Coaster is the only media delivered to the door in this area since 2005. It is also available online.Advertising in the Coaster works. If you have a local business or provide a local service, then tell people about it.Effective advertising needs repetition and time to produce results according to best practice research. Check out our discounts for longer term bookings. To get our ad rates, please either...Go to www.meathcoaster.comPhone 041 9813860 or Email: dermot@meathcoaster.com © March 2019 The Meath Coaster6Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa On Thursday 21st March the eagerly an-ticipated first visit of our therapy dog took place. Fionn is a Belgian Shepherd Dog and he is registered with the charity Animal Therapy Ireland. He underwent extensive temperament testing to ensure his suitability as a therapy dog. Schools use therapy dogs to increase confidence and reduce anxiety in their students and to promote responsible behaviour around dogs. I’d like to thank Animal Therapy Ireland, Mrs. White and the Board of Management for their support. The class spent time preparing for Fionn’s visit. They learnt general rules about how to stay safe around dogs, both family pets and dogs they don’t know. They learnt to be responsible for Fionn by making sure he had fresh water, treats and a bed avail-able during his visit. The children had a lovely day and thoroughly enjoyed his visit. I’ll let them describe the experience in their own words. Sarah Liddy"He is very big. He is a therapy dog and he is a quiet dog. He has a very good nose to smell the treats.” “He was very calm and re-laxed. He was big and cute.” “Fionn is calm, nice and quiet. He is big and handsome. His bed is very soft.” “Fionn is a Belgian Shepherd Dog. This is how I de-scribe him; quiet, calm, hairy and big.” “He is cute and car-ing. We got a bed, water and a blanket for him. I got to stroke him. We got to feed him some kibble. Fionn was really soft.” “Everyone thought he was big-ger than they expected. He was super adorable and nice. We learned all about dogs before he came in.” “We gave him water to drink. He is so cute it’s like he is my dog but he is not. I wish he could come in again.” “Fionn is my teacher’s dog. He is so cute and so furry. §For some tips on keeping your children safe around dogs please visit the links below:Kennel Club Safe and Sound scheme: The 20 Paw Plan www.thekennelclub.org.uk/me-dia/20232/sashi20pawplan.pdfDr. Sophia Yin: How to greet dogs safelyhttp://info.drsophiayin.com/how-to-greet-a-dog-ebook © March 2019 The Meath Coaster8Make a splash this Springwith fast turnaround timeson all print & signageProvidingProfessionalPrint Services to Meath Coaster Since 200919 Fair Street , Drogheda, A92 VN2K • www.beulahprint.ieMeath Losing Millions in Local Property Tax MessFailure to factor in Meath’s population increase means Meath County Council is €3.5m worse off from Local Property Tax fund compared to similar counties.Meath has the lowest number of Coun-cil staff per head of population.Meath is losing millions in funding each year thanks to an out-of-date way of distributing the Local Property Tax. According to the latest figures, €17.5 million was collected from Meath home-owners under the Local Property Tax in 2018. This goes into a central fund and is then allocated to local authorities. However, only €14m of the €17.5m col-lected in Meath was given back to Meath Co. Council.One of the main reasons for the shortfall is because of the way each county’s needs are assessed. The amount of money need-ed to run each county was worked out twenty years ago. Amazingly, the Department of Housing are still working off that same assessment today. Virtually no changes have been made to take account of significant popu-lation increases.This has meant that counties such as Lim-erick, which has almost the exact same population as Meath gets €3.5 million more than the Royal County from the Lo-cal Property Tax fund. Kerry, with a population 50,000 smaller than Meath gets half a million euro more in funding. If Meath was assessed on the same basis as Limerick, then we could ex-pect to be receiving an extra €3.5 million each year.The failure to update how the allocation system works really disadvantages coun-ties with high population growth over the past twenty years. Meath’s population has grown by 85,000 or 78% in that time but we have not had the extra funds to match. It means that Meath Co. Council is short of funding for basic local services, which communities are starved of such as playgrounds, youth centres, libraries, community halls and CCTV.What is more, with millions being lost in local property tax it is little wonder that Meath County Council has the lowest number of staff per head of population than any other Council in Ireland. And this means Meath County Council simply can’t employ as many people as other counties for services such as plan-ning, building inspection, illegal waste enforcement and housing estate manage-ment.Paul Nolan, the Social Democrats Candi-date in the Ashbourne local area, says “It’s totally unacceptable that Meath loses out because the Department of Housing can’t get the allocation system right. There must be a complete overhaul of how Local Property Tax funds are given out so that counties like Meath with high population growth don’t continue to lose substantial funding that we desperately need.” Make a splash this Springwith fast turnaround timeson all print & signageProvidingProfessionalPrint Services to Meath Coaster Since 200919 Fair Street , Drogheda, A92 VN2K • www.beulahprint.ieNext >