There is little else to speak of at the moment other than the local and European elections that are taking place this day next week and I think more than anyone else - the candidates want this day to come so that they can get on with their lives one way or another.
As sick as citizens may be of opening the door to canvassers, the exhausted politicians are physically feeling the pain and the drain of trudging through the housing estates of the city and county for the past few months.
Some of them are decidedly smaller than they were before they began this campaign while others have suffered abuse and a ream of insults - depending on what party they are canvassing for.
All in all, I think everyone will be happy to see Friday and Saturday come and go so that everyone can get on with their lives.
So with just one week to go you should be making up your minds about who you are going to vote for. It is wise to think about this before you get to the ballot box. Your vote counts - every vote counts and when it comes to the actual count, you can see this very clearly as transfers are being divided out amongst hopeful candidates. Candidates can miss seats by as little as ten votes - that is how tight it gets for some - so do go and vote.
The European candidates are also making their way around the country and we in Kilkenny have three candidates running from Kilkenny alone, let alone from the East of the country. We are lucky to have such a huge representation from such a small county and hopefully they will go on to represent us all at European level.
To date Liam Aylward has been doing an admirable job and has even merited the attention of the French government for his efforts in the area of agriculture. It is largely believed that he will be re-elected and it would be shocking if he were not, considering his experience and profile.
Senator John Paul Phelan is proving to be a very popular politician. With his experience in the house of the Oireachtas in the Senate, he has already proved himself as an able and intelligent politician who puts the needs of the electorate first. Running for Fine Gael on Avril Doyle’s ticket (following her retirement ), I believe that the young senator will do very well. He has not polled well up until now with Neasa Childers being his main competition, however, local people should see the benefits of voting local. From a farming background in Tullogher, Senator Phelan has proven his worth many times in the past.
Our third local candidate is Sinn Fein’s Kathleen Funchion who has run for election in the past. From the Callan area, she has been a member of Sinn Fein for some time although she is only 27 years old. She is one of the few female politicians on the canvass for Europe and if there is one thing Europe needs - it’s more women in Parliament as it is top heavy with male input.
With three good candidates to choose from Kilkenny people are spoiled for choice this European election.
It would be amazing to have two seats in Europe and both of those to be Kilkenny people. Remember party politics are not so important when you are casting your vote for Euro politicians. In Brussels and Strasbourg, you are a European and it is not important whether you are Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Sinn Fein as when you are in Europe you are simply Irish - representing Irish people’s views.
So get out and vote on Friday and be nice to the politicians this week on your doorstep - they are all local and are all anxious to represent you at local authority and European level.
