Joe Malone, ex-army man, youth worker, and wannabe public representative, is very clear on one thing — if he gets elected to Kilkenny Borough Council as planned, things will change and he intends to see to this personally.
The newcomer to Fianna Fáil is adamant that Kilkenny needs a lot of attention and he is prepared to give it all of that and more.
A former PD supporter, Malone is happy to be running for Fianna Fáil who he believes can pull the country out of the recessionary state in which it finds itself and he believes that it will happen.
Why Fianna Fáil?
“I was approached by John McGuinness and Pat Fitzpatrick to run for Fianna Fáil for the borough council and I accepted the offer. I knew at this stage the PDs were gone and I had supported Coleman Loughnane locally and Mary Harney and Michael McDowell for a long time as I liked their politics and they were not afraid to speak out. But I don’t think Mary Harney is doing a good job as Minister for Health at the moment, although I respect her. She has a tough job — as all ministers do. Our health system is not up to scratch. When I’m on the doorsteps I am hearing first hand about the waiting lists for medical procedures and this is simply unacceptable. Just because a person doesn’t have private health insurance shouldn’t mean that they can’t get treated quickly. Some people can hardly afford breakfast, let alone health insurance, and I don’t believe that ordinary people should be penalised because they don’t have money,” he said.
Canvassing as a Fianna Fáil candidate could not possibly be an easy job in this current climate and Malone has been experiencing both the highs and lows of running for the current government party.
“Most people are polite and reasonable and understand that as a local person, you can only do so much to represent their needs at a local level. I am a new candidate and so can only make a difference if I am elected. I am telling people that I am prepared to speak out and make a difference, but I need to be elected in order to do so.
“It’s a tough campaign and I have also met with not so welcoming people. I have got abuse and I’ve been threatened but this is not the norm. I will stand by my beliefs and at least I am engaging with people and calling to their doors. I am not just dropping leaflets in letter boxes and running off. I want to be interviewed by the people on the doorsteps.”
Malone claims that he will, like his mentor Deputy John McGuinness, speak out if he feels that it is necessary and he will not bow to party pressure. But why not run as an Independent if he is concerned about his freedom of speech?
“I don’t think I can get results running without the support of a party behind me. I will be my own person but I think I need the party support. You need the backing of a party behind you for certain things and having John McGuinness is also a huge support,” he added.
The John McGuinness debacle
Malone is 100 per cent behind John McGuinness after his recent sacking from his junior ministerial role. He also supports him in his comments made in interviews in the aftermath of the event.
“John McGuinness was badly treated but I think the fallout will be good for Fianna Fáil in Kilkenny as people also believe that he was not treated fairly. There was cross party support for him and I am hearing on the doorsteps that there is a lot of admiration for him for what he did.
Youth issues
Apart from national issues Malone is very involved in local issues in Kilkenny city. He is heavily involved with the Mejugorge Youth Group which takes young people to Mejugorge every summer for a week. He is also very involved in sport and in particular, hurling and spent years as a masseuse for the hurling teams locally. He has his finger of the pulse of what works and what doesn’t work for young people and he is very concerned about the futures of many as a result of the damage that drugs has done to their young lives in Kilkenny.
“The problems associated with drug taking in Kilkenny are very very serious and something desperately needs to be done to tackle this issue and sooner rather than later. Heroin addicts are having to travel to Dublin for methadone and this is ridiculous. People owe so much money to dealers — six figure sums in some cases — leaving them desperate for a means to pay back the borrowings. There is no way for them to pay back and this is what I am worried about. People are in dire straits and have no way out. This leads to criminal activity and robberies as people try and get the money they owe. This won’t stop here. Someone will get seriously hurt or shot and we have to help these people before something terrible happens,” he warned.
He believes that the way forward is to set up a drugs task force that would deal with the real issues associated with the drugs culture in Kilkenny.
“People involved need to sit on this committee — not just public representatives. Former drug dealers, their families, GPs, HSE reps, and experts — these are the people that can help. We have a big drug problem in Kilkenny and there is no glamour attached to it. Drugs bring nothing but misery and we need to get this message out there. I know this for a fact — people are in a vicious circle and they need help.
“There is no point in big headlines unless someone does something constructive. We need resources to put services for these people in place including a drop in centre and a methadone clinic. This will help people to come off drugs and give them a new beginning. At the moment they have nowhere to go,” he said.
