It’s politics as usual for Fianna Fáil in Westport with the sudden renewed interest by Westport’s Fianna Fáil representatives in local issues such as the N5 and the promised, but not delivered schools, such as Westport’s Gaelscoil, has everything to do with the upcoming local elections and little to do with genuine efforts to actually do anything.
In a business where perception is reality it is vital in the run up to the June elections that FF councillors and their TDs be seen to be doing something; this is far more important than actually doing something.
This is not just cynicism, for the truth of the matter, widely acknowledged, is that if Westport’s FF councillors and Mayo’s FF TDs were going to do something about the N5 or the state of our schools they would have done so at the height of the boom and not now as we sink deeper into a recession.
What we are witnessing now, with FF representatives meeting recently with the Taoiseach about the N5 and the Minister for Education about Westport’s Gaelscoil, is merely window dressing designed to give the impression that they are working to deliver on these issues.
Many, many, promises will be made by FF in the coming months in relation to the N5 and schools and job creation. The Taoiseach will agree to “look carefully” at the need for a new N5 roadway while the Minister for Education will “look carefully” at the need for a new Gaelscoil for Westport. But nothing will be done, for there is no money and even less political will to do anything in Mayo at the moment.
The truth is that FF are sweating as they are in for the kicking of a lifetime from the electorate this June and are desperate for some good news to deliver. Unfortunately for them all they will be able to deliver is ‘good news’ in the form of vague commitments from the Taoiseach and his ministers.
In Westport FF are being very realistic in only fielding two county council candidates instead of their usual three. However in the cold light of day all FF are offering in Westport is the same thing that has been on the menu for decades in the form of veteran councillors Frank Chambers and Margaret Adams. There is no new blood being offered to an electorate that has been “Obamafied” and expects change from “politics as usual".
For the record Frank Chambers has no choice but to run in Westport, all the talk of choices and decisions is just publicity as FF head quarters have confirmed that Cllr Chambers has been selected for Westport and only Westport.
As compensation for losing Newport it is likely that Cllr Adams will agree that Chambers can have free run at Louisburgh and all points south as long as Westport is left to her.
And while they can point to their decades of experience on the council they cannot point to a single major delivery that they have worked on in the last five years. Frank Chambers is most recently remembered for his recent unsuccessful Dáil bid and ill fated N5 march to Castlebar which barely made it out of Westport town, while Margaret Adams has had a relatively low profile over the last five years.
On a town council level it could be difficult for FF to keep its three seats as it has seen the votes of Cllr Dever and Cllr Mulroy fall off in the 2004 elections and if this trend is repeated they are in trouble. Cllr Adams will be safe on the town but she may lose a colleague or at best see FF keep its three seats, but it won’t necessarily be the same faces sitting beside her in July 2009.
The Soldiers of Destiny in Westport are squinting into a very bleak sunrise as they march towards the Local Elections of June 2009 and politics as usual will not be enough to save them. The electorate are behind the front doors, waiting patiently for the patter of FF feet, ready to pounce. FF candidates can run this June but they can’t hide!
