The political and the human-reflections on demotion of John

Tonight is a difficult one for John McGuinness TD, a political adversary in our constituency who has not been reappointed to a Junior Ministry by Taoiseach Brian Cowen TD. On a human level this is a difficult time for John, his wife Margaret and all the McGuinness family, including my council colleague and opponent in the forthcoming local elections, Andrew. It is never easy to lose a position which you feel you have secured on merit, and one in which you have worked hard and in which you feel you have done well.

It is also a frustrating time for the McGuinness half of the Fianna Fáil team in Kilkenny who thought that by succeeding in topping the poll in 2007, and in the process, helping to deliver three seats out of five that enough had been done to secure the first step on the ministerial ladder for a politician who is, without a shadow of a doubt, bright and articulate. Indeed the McGuinness lieutenant on the Borough Council, Cllr. Joe Reidy tonight said on local radio that the step to a senior ministry was one they thought would happen sooner rather than later. Those of us of all political persuasions hoped that a senior ministry would come to Kilkenny sooner rather than later, as it is now twenty seven years since we had that honour and all it brings with it.

On a political level however, I have had my differences with John McGuinness. I believe his attacks on public servants in last year's Sunday Independent interview were wrong and unfair, but as the 'pension levy' or public service tax as it should be called has proven, many in his own party agree, including the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach.

John believes in his right to speak out, but it is the ability to attack Government decisions which your party made and which you walked through the Dáil lobbies to vote for, which I and a huge number of the voters I am meeting on the doorstep find hardest to take.

When John announced on KCLR local radio on the morning of the latest budget that the Government 'had made a bags of the last budget', he failed to mention that he had voted for it and also robustly defended it in the local and national media.

John was defiant tonight on national television stating that he had 'not been elected to the Dáil to leave his brain outside the door'. With this we all agree, but we will continue to demand that he and every Fianna Fáil TD in Carlow/Kilkenny and in the country accept their responsibility for and are held accountable for things like axing the Christmas bonus for pensioners and social welfare recipients, increasing class sizes, hatcheting services in hospitals and health clinics, abandoning the Fair Deal for those in nursing homes etc. etc. etc. and of course standing over policies which have ended up with hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs.

If we didn't I'm sure John would be disappointed that we, like him, didn't use our brains and speak out to defend the weakest in our society who are being made pay for the sins of the free-market nonsense which his party has made such a boast of championing.

Support the Education Cuts Petition

Well done to Maria Parodi, new Labour Party local election candidate in Dublin for starting a comrehensive petition to the Minister for Education Batt O' Thief (sorry O' Keeffe!!) regarding the atrocious education cuts annouced in the budget and unfolding every day.
I'll be proposing the Carlow/Kilkenny motion condemning these cuts at our party conference being held for the first time in Kilkenny this weekend and this debate will be carried live on RTÉ One TV on Saturday morning from 11.00 am to 1.00 pm.
Please sign the petition here
Please also support the National demonstration against the cuts on Sat. 6th. December at 12.00 noon from Parnell Square, Dublin. Let's increase on the 25,000 parents, children and teachers who sent such a strong signal to the Government in Cork last Saturday.

The lads on tour-the evidence

Here's the evidence that the Kilkenny Labour lads were on tour last night. Gary Lynch and Declan O' Hanrahan are the best campaign workers you could wish to have and here they are campaigning against this miserable Government. We also attended the debate in Dáil Éireann. The only thing I'd change in the future is making sure we leave in time to get to Jo'burger, the best burger joint in the capital.

Reflections on my own campaign

It's time for us all to look at the way the Lisbon campaign panned out. First off the margin of the local vote was a small victory. To be one of only ten constituencies to vote Yes, if only by a margin of four votes at least gave us the satisfaction of quietening the Shinners at the count centre.
For my own part I was happy to be complimented on local radio as having run the best campaign in Kilkenny. I had a highly visible poster campaign in the city area, and dropped over 4,000 leaflets into most houses in the city. I managed to canvass almost 1,000 houses while doing a number of public street events also.
I was happiest with the photo opportunity I organised where Labour, Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Green party politicians came together to support the treaty.
To the negatives, the complaints from some about my poster design were valid. This was a National design, and the prominence of the Yes message was too small. The posters also failed to hit the simple message strategy that much of the No campaign did.
On reflection, we did spend far too much time on the defensive and teams which defend too much generally lose the game.
The failure to restate the gains we have made from EU membership, and the bravery to seek those benefits for other newer members was a mistake. The Yes campaign lacked a vision, a positive message to enthuse people. Many of those who we eventually persuaded to vote Yes did so reluctantly.
Finally, the campaign never showed serious intent. Brian Cowen's exhortations to his party to fight for the treaty like it was a General election just never happened. In our own party too, it was difficult to get members active. Maybe we all presumed thatthe voters wouldn't ' do Nice' on us and themselves again.we should never take them for granted again.

Getting the basics wrong-give people OT

Figures I've got today from my old constituency colleague and our current health spokesperson Róisin Shortall TD show an outrageous 1,363 people in Carlow/Kilkenny, including 364 children are waiting for occupational therapy while eight OT posts remain unfilled in the area. Occupational Therapy is a crucial part of the treatment of people with disabilities and mobility difficulties, yet Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Brendan Drumm, as the boss of the HSE can decide to just not fill jobs which provide this basic service to people who really need it.

I've already highlighted the effect this has had on services like the provision of cervical smear tests for women. Why is it that we care so little about such basic services. The so-called agenda for change in the health service has left us with precious little change in the top-heavy administration, but is having a serious impact on services for ordinary patients.

A good choice made and time to chose the best Deputy Leader-Why I'm backing Jan

Today is a historic day for the Labour Party as we select our tenth leader. At what I consider is a relatively young age, I'm now looking forward to meeting my fourth party leader in person when he attends the members hustings for the South East in Kilkenny on Tuesday week, the 18th. of September. For what it's worth I believe that Pat Rabbitte stepped down too early, a view I have related directly to him. This is the second such occasion, with Ruairi Quinn having left too early also in my view. That said, both men had very good reasons for doing so, and it's now up to us to get on with the task of rebuilding our party back to where we were in 1992, and to our ultimate aim which is to become the main opposition party in Ireland. In that context I think we have chosen the best leader available to us, and I now believe we should chose Jan O' Sullivan as the best positioned person to carry out the Deputy Leader's job.

I warmly welcome the election of Deputy Eamon Gilmore as the tenth leader of the Labour Party. I have been a long-time friend of Eamon, who like myself, is a former national student leader. His work as a Junior Minister in the last Government in which we were involved was hugely admired, but it has been as our spokesperson on local Government and the Environment that he has made a huge impact, articulating a vision for the development of local Government and arguing for core Labour values like the necessity for building badly needed social housing for the 100,000 plus people in need of a roof over their heads.

Eamon’s ambition for the party has already been clearly outlined, and I welcome his commitment to win at least thirty seats in the next General election. I believe that regaining a Labour seat in Carlow/Kilkenny must be a key target in this strategy, and I intend to work strongly with our new leader to ensure this happens.

My decision to support Jan O’ Sullivan, and to call on party members in the constituency to support her is based on a strong belief that we need to have a balanced representation in the party leadership. It is crucial that the party continues to be seen as one for all the people of Ireland, urban and rural.

Jan comes from the proud Kemmy tradition of Limerick socialism, and has been an ardent defender of the values of equality, fairness and opportunity for all which summed Kemmy up. She has been a superb party spokesperson on education, my own professional field, and has formulated a forward-looking position on education, committing Labour to a substantial investment in education at all levels, particularly in reducing class sizes in our primary schools, a position the Government has singularly failed to introduce.

While I have great regard for Joan Burton TD, who has been a superb spokesperson on finance, and a hard-working TD, I believe Jan has the necessary conviction and commitment to be the best available support to Eamon as our new leader.

Reflection Time-Where did it all go wrong??

This is the twilight zone for any political activist. Unfortunately, those of us who have committed so many wakingb and sleepless moments to the entity that is the Irish Labour Party, a proud party which will be 100 years old at the next election, are getting used to this questioning and know we have some fundamental questions to answer. Let's have your opinions here to kickstart the debate, both in terms of our failure to win a seat locally and our failure to achieve a breakthrough nationally.

Now it's up to you-Get out and Make the change

Like most political activists in the country I'm wrecked. The demands of holding down a day job, rushing to the canvass most evenings from school and doing the other bits and pieces that being an election agent and part-time campaign press officer bring has taken its toll. There are some benefits however. Ths suit jacket that was embarrassingly tight two months ago fits today, and reasonably well. There's also the suntanned face but not much else of the body! And of course the genuine joy of meeting the people of the city who elected me, and of course those who didn't but might the next time.

The downside is the overload of cholesterol in the sysyem from the snack-boxes and burgers which have fuelled the campaign, and the full file of representations picked up on the doorstep which will take weeks of future work between the initial letter, the follow-up phone calls, and the final yeah or nay to the constituent.

Mostly it's been fun though. Now it's time for decisions-and that's up to you. The last five days, since the Leaders debate have been frustrating. I know I'm biased but I'm fed up of RTÉ presenters allowing the two Aherns, and finally Cowen to shout everybody into submission. How I long for the return of Olivia O' Leary, who would have told all the aforementioned to shut up while the other person was speaking, although not in those words.

I still believe that there's a mood for change out there. The thought of leaving this bumbling bunch of arrogant, aggressive ineffective and most importantly heartless leadership in place for another five years is unthinkable. If you feel the same get out and vote, and persuade everybody you can to get rid of this shower.

In Kilkenny please get out and give Michael O' Brien your Number One. Of all the people I have known in twenty years of politics, Michael is one of the straightest, most honest, most decent people I have encountered. He deserves your vote, and I ask you to get out and give it to him. Give your number two to Jim Townsend, and your 3,4 and 5 to Hogan, Phelan and Browne in order of your choice-they will play their part in getting Bertie out.

Bongos and Boogie-Fair Trade Tunes

It was a great kick-off to Fair Trade Fortnight in Kilkenny last Thursday night as the irrepressible Sophia Westwick organised a novel Drummers V. D.J's night in Cleere's Pub. Cleere's was one of the first pubs in Kilkenny to start to stock Fair Trade tea and coffee, and helped put the whole campaign on the road. We returned therefore to the best little theatre in the country for a gathering featuring world music by D.J's Andy Harte and Yuvi and drummers led by Colm Byrne.

Some us needed some encouragement to get out and boogie but the reggae sounds of Bob Marley soon got even the most senior stalwarts into action. All in all it was a good night, raising a few euro in the process, and reawakening the spirits on the committee.

Next up is Wednesday night's fashion show in Langton's. Fair Trade clothing is a new area, with people like Ali Hewson, wife of God (sorry I mean Bono) one of the highest profile designers in the marketplace, with her Edun range. People Tree is another company selling really good fashion online, with a cool animated ad to promote their products. One of my favourite multiples, if that's not a contradiction, Marks and Spencer's (they actually make clothes that fit people like me!) have also launched a Fair Trade range. On Wednesday night we join Burnchurch National School in a fund-raising fashion show, with mens and womens fashion items which are exclusively Fair Trade products. The committee have thankfully avoided being drafted as models, so we'll just be there to cheer on the volunteers. Well done to new member Niamh Mulvey who has put so much work into this and see you all in Langton's at 8.00 pm on Wednesday.

Fear ann féin-The passing of Michael Meaney

Today is a sad day for the Labour Party in Carlow/Kilkenny, with the passing of our most senior councillor in the constituency. Michael Meaney from beautiful Borris on the Carlow/Kilkenny border passed away yesterday morning. We were due to have the Graignamanagh A.G.M. of the party yesterday afternoon, always one of the highlights of the year as it is one of the strongest and liveliest branches we have. Instead, the meeting paid tribute to Michael in a very fulsome way. Michael did after all represent the other side of the river Barrow, across the bridge in Tinnahinch, and many of the older members like John Bolger and Ned Fenlon remembered him bursting onto the scene in the early 70's.

Michael was known as a phenomenally hard worker, who built up an incredibly loyal support, topping the poll on all but one of the five or six local elections he contested. He also carried the banner for the party in the 1982 General election, polling almost 2,000 votes. He was never a boring figure, well able to win the headlines with sound-bites before they became a fashionable part of politics. He also had great wit, and took no prisoners in debate. He will be sorely missed by us all, and when his coffin is draped in the blue and white 'starry plough' flag of our party, he will have done more to earn that right than many others.