There are lots of election issues to the fore this week and with the election so close now - is it any wonder!
Senator John Paul Phelan was not happy with running mate Mairead McGuinness for putting her posters up in ‘his area’ for the Euro elections. There are strict rules about what you can and cannot do when you are running for election and Fine Gael have decided that in a bid to maximise the number one Fine Gael vote for both their candidates that they are better off not treading on each others toes in their quest to become an MEP. Basically - stay out of my area and I’ll stay out of yours and we will both get enough number one votes to get elected. However, Mairead wasn’t playing ball and not one to be left wanting, our local Senator took her up on it! I don’t think she will be so bold again in the run up to the elections.
Still on posters, Cllr Pat O’ Neill and Michael O’ Brien were feeling pretty hard done by when they discovered that up to 20 of Pats and four of Michael’s had been removed and destroyed. Posters cause fierce problems for candidates. And at a cost of €8 a poster - it is no joke if many of them are tampered with - particularly for candidates who are funding their own campaigns. Pat was taking the incident very personally and he referred it to the Gardai who are currently investigating...
Andrew McGuinness got a bit of a make-over on one of his posters on the Waterford Road recently... and the posters are only up a wet week.
At least nobody can do anything to John Coonan - he is donating money to the Special Olympics instead of postering the city and county.
Posters tend to cause rows at the best of times. One canvasser told a householder that he wishes he could cart most of those up along the ringroad off to the circus where they belonged!
You have to wonder do they work? People take them very seriously and it is considered a criminal offence if they are hampered with in any way. But do you vote for someone based on how their mug shot looks on a pole?
Another issue that came to the fore at the last meeting of the current Borough Council members was the approval of the skate-board park for the Closh. There was controversy surrounding the issue as residents seem to be opposed to the development of a recreational park and a skate park in the area but correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it better to have a green park with playground, seating and a skate park for use by all than a unused desolate piece of waste ground where undesirables gather for drink, drugs and sex? I think I’d prefer the first option if I were living in the area - but maybe that’s just me!
Finally, I have to bade farewell to two very accommodating and capable councillors who are stepping down from politics and not going for re-election this time around.
Cllr Pat Crotty and Cllr Michael Lanigan are two of the most able and helpful councillors and they will be sorely missed on the borough council. We can only hope that they will be replaced with two equally competent players on the future council. We wish them both well in their future endeavours.
