Martin Concannon will stand for Sinn Féin in Galway City East at the local elections in June and wants local government and how it operates to be “brought into the 21st century”.
Mr Concannon is from Rahylin Glebe, Ballybane, and was nominated as the party candidate at the Sinn Féin selection convention in the Victoria Hotel recently. Speaking after his selection, he outlined the issues he will be campaigning on.
He says the current lack of secondary school facilities in the city’s east side is contributing to the” horrendous traffic congestion faced by motorists” and that the construction of a secondary school in the area “must become a top priority on the council agenda”.
He is also calling on the Galway City Council to deal with the issue of substandard housing. City Hall must use its “full powers of inspection” of local rental accommodation he says, adhere to inspection standards guidelines, and engage in “robust enforcement” against rogue landlords.
He is also wants a public transport system for the city and “new and innovative initiatives” to tackle traffic congestion.
“The latest Central Statistics Office figures show that less than five per cent of people in the city use public transport to travel to and from work,” he said. “In order to make it more attractive to travel by bus, we need increased quality bus corridors, investments to upgrade all fleets, and all year round park and ride facilities on the outskirts of the city.”
Mr Concannon wants a light rail transport system with routes running throughout the city and suburbs and that it would be solely in local public ownership.
He also wants more community policing. “We must make local policing accountable to the communities served, including increased powers for joint policing committees,” he said.
The Galway City East candidate also feels a “disconnection” exists between the politicians in the city council and the electorate.
“The council must take a more joined up and long-term approach to the problems that we face,” he said. “I will be aiming to build progressive alliances within the council chamber so as to successfully introduce new initiatives.”
