More than 100 delegates gathered at The Merry Monk in Ballina on Monday night as local Minister of State Dara Calleary received the unanimous backing of the Fianna Fáil Tír Amhalgaidh (Ballina Area ) Comhairle Cheantair to contest the forthcoming General Election.
A large number of delegates including Mayo county councillor Annie May Reape, and Ballina town councillors Johnnie O’Malley, Frances McAndrew, and Willie Nolan, spoke in glowing terms of Minister Calleary, and his outstanding achievements in a relatively short time in national politics were referred to with great passion and pride as the local organisation moved into election mode.
“I am lifted by the massive turnout here tonight, and it proves that despite what we read in the newspapers, Fianna Fáil in this region is very much alive and well,” Dep Calleary told the meeting. “We are facing into our most difficult campaign ever but five years ago I stood before you as an organisation and appealed for your support at convention. I asked you to buy into the Dara Calleary way and thankfully you did. In the time that has elapsed since I could never have envisaged where we as a country and as a party would find ourselves – very difficult decisions have had to be taken but I would also hope that work done during this time has impacted positively upon our communities and upon our region. I have been a strong voice for Mayo and for communities throughout this region. I was the voice for the students, staff and parents of St Dymphna’s and St Nicholas’ Special Needs School who for over 30 years were campaigning for a new school. A €6 million purpose built campus has now been delivered – the most important delivery of the past four years, and my proudest achievement as your TD.
“I was the voice for the residents of St Patrick’s Estate, which has undergone a complete transformation, and for the numerous primary and secondary schools of this region that have been extended or refurbished since 2007. Lacken Cross has been rebuilt, Gortnor Abbey, St Tiernan’s, St Mary’s, and St Muredach’s have each been extensively refurbished and almost every primary school has had essential works and/or extensions carried out.”
Looking towards the upcoming election Dep Calleary told the meeting that it was going to be a very tough test for the party in the county. “This is going to be our toughest election yet but with your support, commitment, and determination I am ready to enter the battlefield,” he said. “I am asking you all to walk with me again as we spread our message of substantial local delivery to this county in a time of recession. I have worked hard to ensure that local delivery has been widespread and now the message we have to get out there is that this region must keep its local TD.”
