It is Friday, June 8, 2029. Five years hence. On that day too, the electorate will be going to the polls in their droves to pass judgement on those of you who were elected in the elections of the summer of 2024.
I hope that whoever is writing this editorial on that week or passing judgment on the term in whatever form public comment takes at that time, does not have to use the line of “Galway has tremendous unrealised potential.” That they do not have to write on the possibilities that existed but has now passed. That we do not have to talk about missed opportunity. Or that the society you have created is one that is lacking in cohesion and equality of opportunity.
When we last went to elect local councillors in 2019, we were not to know that for two of the years since, the city and county and the world at large were shut down, reshaped by circumstance and restriction and eventual war. That how we view work and study and live was redrawn, some for the good, some for the worse.
The coming year, never mind the next five years will see us live through some interesting times with key elections in many democracies, including our own. The soapbox that such events create allow the participants to play a massive role in shaping what passes for discourse, not just in the places worldwide, but in our own communities in a drip-down fashion.
Best wishes to all of the candidates who have been brave enough to stand up and be counted this weekend. No matter what your political allegiances are, please ensure that humanity and community are at the heart of everything you espouse. Do not try to make political capital by highlighting negatively the differences that exist in our communities. Don’t let your legacy be that you drove a wedge between people for your own advancement.
Almost sixty of you will be selected as councillors over the next few days. By Sunday evening, the counts at the Galway Lawn Tennis Club and the Community Centre in Westside will surely have concluded and the shape of local politics in Galway for the next half-decade will have been formed.
If you are one of those chosen, wouldn’t it be great to have as your legacy in 2029 that you helped create a better place, with transport and housing and lack of opportunity tackled. That your efforts in that time were not merely limited to your own self-preservation, but that you were chosen and that you delivered.
I hope that the city spaces for mingling and living and performing will be created and not just talked about. I hope that the new councillors will have the vision and the wherewithal to see through the waffle that often distracts local authorities from the priorities.
We get the politicians we deserve...and we will get the ones we hope can match the expectations of a thriving region like Galway city and county. Make sure that you, the voters use your vote to maximum effect so that you can rightfully say you played a part in the shaping of the next five years.
