Galway West voters will have a major say in who forms the next Government, because if they vote for Éamon Ó Cuív, Frank Fahey, or Noel Grealish, they will be voting to keep the highly unpopular Brian Cowen in office.
This is the message Fine Gael councillor Brian Walsh is sending to voters across the constituency as he positions himself to be added to the FG ticket at the next General Election.
Addressing a meeting of Young Fine Gael this week, Cllr Walsh pointed out how Galway West has three Government TDs in Fianna Fáil’s Éamon Ó Cuív and Frank Fahey and Independent Noel Grealish.
As a result “the electorate of Galway West will play a pivotal role in deciding whether or not we will have a change of Government after the next election”.
He said if Ó Cuív, Fahey, and Grealish are returned by the voters “Galway West will have clearly demonstrated its support for Government policy and performance”.
“We simply cannot allow this to happen, more of the same is not good enough, we owe it to future generations to effect real change now,” he said. “If there is to be a change of government then quite simply FG must win two seats here.”
He said it is vital for Fine Gael to target the seats held by Cuív, Fahey, and Grealish and that voters should remember that these men “supported outrageously unfair Government decisions”.
“The Government, which controls 100 per cent of Anglo Irish Bank, has agreed to the creation of bad debt provisions which could see the writing off of tens of millions of euro in loans to former directors of Anglo,” said Cllr Walsh, “yet it has withdrawn much needed financial support for special needs children in our schools.”
He also said FG must not allow the public to “forget what this Government has allowed happen”, and cited elderly people left waiting on trolleys in A&E and billions being pumped into failed banks at the taxpayers’ expense as examples.
Cllr Walsh also “rejected the notion” that “all political parties are the same” and said Fine Gael were distinguished by their “innovative policies” which will “repair our economy and transform public services”.
“Our policies on healthcare, banking, job creation and crime prevention are radically different from the failed policies of Fianna Fáil which has brought this country to the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.
Cllr Walsh is eager to be added to the Galway West ticket at the next election.
“I have a duty to raise these issues and do something concrete about changing the way our country is run,” he said. “That is why I have decided to seek to be part of the FG election team and do all I can to ensure we return two TDs to the next Dáil.”
