People in rural Galway should have the right to cut turf, and "not be held hostage on their own land at the behest of a Government taking its lead from Brussels", a situation that is an "ongoing scandal".
This is the view of Annemarie Roche, the Sinn Féin candidate for Galway East. The 36-year-old Englishwoman of Irish parents, who now lives in Loughrea, who will campaign on issues that directly affect rural Ireland, which she says "has been battered by this Government". As well as the issue of bog cutting she added: "Austerity measures have stripped rural communities of fundamental services such as Garda stations, post offices, and bus services."
Regarding the economy, she said any recovery there may be is coming at a very high price. “The price of this so called economic recovery is applying cuts and new taxes to the already vulnerable in society," she said. "Cuts to the One Parent Family payment have been introduced despite recent statistics showing that almost 63 per cent of all lone parents cannot afford basic necessities, 12 per cent of children across this State are living in consistent poverty and almost 1,000 children are homeless.
"Joan Burton and Enda Kenny do not know what it is like to live in poverty or be homeless, nor do they care. They only care about filling their own pockets and this has been proven in their budgets and policies."
