Even with the Easter Holidays just upon us, it was a momentous week politically both on the national level and on a local level.
Nationally the Budget has left people counting the change in their pockets whilst on a local level Minister John McGuinness used the occasion of a joint meeting with the county and city councillors to tell all of his resignation as a Minister as and from later in April. This took his audience by surprise but it was really only the starter to the main course of the Minister versus the Labour Party.
Despite the valiant efforts of the conspicuously fair chairman of the council , Councillor Tomas Breathnach , the meeting supposedly about jobs in Kilkenny was dragged into the morass of dirt throwing politics by that terrible twosome councillors O'Brien and O'hAargain. Appearing as though they had dined for days on nothing but red meat they were playing lets pretend we're in the Dail and barrack the Minister. Both forgot that one of them has had the electorate not allow them near Kildare Street while the other has had his party allow him nowhere near it. The dirt throwing was greeted by The Minister dismissing them with almost a flick of his hand.
The Labour boys are certainly setting the pace in the campaign stakes to date what with the press ads and the presidential-like billboards of Sean Butler, all within the election spending limits I'm sure. Great to see that Cllr O'hArgain has dispensed with the convention of putting his running mates in alphabetical order ensuring that those with an F come before a man with a surname beginning with a B , I wonder why ? The slogans are great too O'hArgain keeping " hope" alive , please nobody but nobody mention Obama again to this man, he is obsessed to a point that is worrying. While the O' hArgain campaign has concentrated on national issues his running mates campaigns can be summarised as follows;-
(A ) Sean Butler - I'm against everything my running mates voted for at the last five year’s meetings and I'm really from the village
(B ) Marie Fitzpatrick - Please vote for me because I liked being mayor ... twice.
(C ) Noel Frawley - I don't speak at any meetings because I'm bringing back accountability and integrity.
The Frawley advertisement in last week's paper told us he was bringing back accountability and integrity to "the grass roots of local politics". I can assure Cllr Frawley that this column rejects the accusation that it is not totally accountable and full of integrity. But I can't wait to hear or more likely read the councillor’s evidence of this lack of either or both in this column or indeed in local politics in general. A bit over the top I think but we await the Cllr's speeches in the council chamber when he exposes all !
If it wasn't for the Labour campaign the only amusement to be had is from the independents what with the letters from Jimmy Leahy as he has a real go at Marie Fitz, Joe Reidy, and the O'Loughlin Road crew, if he were to take that zeal in to the chamber he would shake it up or be continuously suspended by the Mayor. It's a pity that the letters only appear in election years, we could do with them through each long cold winter.
Eugene McGuinness is continuing "the tradition" too, but could my informants be possibly right that last week he was assuring voters on the Continent that if elected he would be working with Andrew and John Surely some mistake.
The Fianna Fail campaign is very, very low key . They are still concerned that the voters may connect them with the Government when they are assuring all who they meet that they have nothing to do with any of them and are concentrating on local issues. Of course the number of former FF councillors now running for the county council as independents means that if elected with Dixie Doyle as their de facto leader they can form a new grouping to be referred to as "The Confederates of Kilkenny." It could be their contribution to Kilkenny 400.
So Grassroots can't wait for the canvassing to really begin after Easter but until then Happy Easter to all our readers.
