On this miserable day it's nice to see our former party leader back to his best in putting the Greens in their place at last. The interview with Mary White, our local toothless TD had to be seen to be believed, but is gone form the RTÉ website unfortunately. Meanwhile the vision of John and his bicycle clips will live almost as long in the memory as that of Mary O' Rourke in the bath-but not quite as frightening!

Reflections on Mullingar-Another conference of action

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Last weekend saw another successful chapter in our campaign to become the third party in a three party sytem and to break the mould of silly civil war politics. Another excellently received leader's speech by Eamon Gilmore meant that we weren't too disappointed by the poll setback on Sunday morning. Anyway, if we end up with between 17 and 20% in the elections on June 5th. I for one will be very happy.

The heart of the weekend's action for me was my campaign for re-election to the party's National Executive Committee. I was at a major disadvantage because of a difficulty getting local members to travel, but my friends elsewhere ensured I had enough number ones to see me home eventually. Thanks a million to Gary, Sadie and other party members for their support and to everybody who supported me with their preference votes. I look forward to representing my own local members and the views of other members at National level in what is sure to be an exciting time in politics.

As you'll see above I also got a chance to speak on Friday night on a motion on the Irish language and the Gaeltacht. Súil agam go n-aontaionn tú leis an méid a bhi le rá agam.

Straight Talking-Eamon calls it on the pension levy while civil servants decide to take action

Here is Eamon Gilmore's speech last night proposing the Labour Party's motion calling for the rejection of the Government's proposed levy on public servants. Our case has never been that public servants shouldn't contribute to the recovery of our economy, despite the fact that they had precious little to do with the mess we now find ourselves in. It is the total unfairness of the Government's remedy that Eamon highlights here.

This unfairness is why I will join the thousands of other civil servants, gárdai, nurses, prison officers and others on Saturday at the national demonstration in Dublin. We hope that many private sector workers will join us on the basis that they will be next. We must not allow this rotten Government to row back on the working conditions that our trade unions have fought for for generations.

Reflections on a crazy week- Let's fight to make it different

Tonight I watched Brian Lenihan who's supposed to know what's going on in our country and economy and Eamon Gilmore on the Week in Politics programme and I saw why the people I've met on the street are really connecting with the Labour Party and its leader. Putting it simply, Eamon wiped the floor with Lenihan in a calm, rational and yet really passionate way. In that he has been joined by Joan Burton, who's now coming across as the only really knowledgeable voice on the economic front. It took her questioning to discover during the week that the pension levy would be tax deductible and therefore would bring in far less than the Government pretended.

Put simply this has been a week which typifies all that is rotten about this Government. The politics of the soft touch has seen people like myself and others on far lower rates of pay than mine scapegoated by this Government.

Of course our local Junior Minister John McGuinness started the softening up process months ago with his mean-spirited attack on public servants. The media has fallen for this spin hook, line and sinker, making it so easy to attack us this week. The unfairness of it all was brilliantly described by SIPTU's Jack O' Connor on Wednesday when he said that a public servant on €40,000 would now pay an extra 7% of their salary effectively in tax, while a self-employed hospital consultant in a private hospital would pay an extra 2% on a salary of €250,000 a year. Worse still the property developers and the bankers who brought us to this mess get off scot-free.

I for one hope that my colleagues across the public service now revolt. We don't mind paying our share in a difficult situation but let's see others bear the pain also.

For now it's time for us to organise to get this shower out. This month Labour are asking you to get involved. If you're in Kilkenny please contact me to join the Labour Party and get involved. If you're anywhere else click here to sign up. The time for talking and criticising is over-the time for action is now and you can play your part.

Bí linn agus is féidir linn

Tony Gregory- a decent man but tough opponent

The death of Tony Gregory this week was not unexpected to those of us in political circles but has taken most people by surprise. The last time I met him was at the launch of the book dedicated to Seamus Pattison's life in politics in Dail Eireann back in October. Tony looked visibly ill at the time but still had that twinkle in his eye.
I began my political life in Dublin Central. I knew Tony's core team members like Mick Rafferty, Seanie Lambe and of course my union colleague and now TD Finian McGrath. They were a hugely committed group of people who worked their socks off for what was then and still is the most deprived part of the country.

They were joined in that work by a series of Labour Party figures, most notably Joe Costello TD, his wife Emir and many others. In fact Dublin Central Labour has produced two other TD's who moved to neighbouring constituencies in Roisin Shortall and Joan Burton and the writer as a Councillor in Carlow/Kilkenny.
Tony was buried today in Dublin and as usual had the last word. The tribute speech at his final mass castigated those politicians who praised him loudly in the past week but had done so little to support those he represented during his lifetime in politics.

A real tribute to Tony Gregory would be the ending of the endemic poverty of the North and South Inner cities in Dublin, in Southill and Moyross in Limerick and in countless other ghettoes of local authority housing in our cities and towns, including here in Kilkenny.

The hypocrisy of a right-wing media which canonises Gregory, idolises Joe Higgins, but continues to attack real radical and left-wing policy aternatives to our current outdated Thatcherite economic model is also breathtaking. The attitude seems to be that a few colourful socialists in the Dail are OK but not if the things they believe in come close to be implemented.

Let's remember that the aim of Connolly and Larkin whose starry plough flag draped Tony Gregory's coffin today was the transformation of Irish society to win equality for all.

Ar dheis De go raibh anam Tony ach go dtiocfadh a chuid aidhmeanna i bhfeidhm chomh luath agus gur feidir.

Sense at last on Valentia Station

It's rarely I blog about South Kerry, 'm'áit dúchais' but tonight is genuinely an occasion for celebration for an embattled community. As a local election candidate in the area almost ten years ago I was one of those campaigning against the closure of Valentia coastguard station and the downgrading of Valentia weather station, which is of course based in Cahersiveen and was where my Dad worked for many years.

While we didn't succeed in retaining all the services in Cahersiveen, the coastguard station survived until Minister Noel Dempsey, yes him the Minister who tried to take away Kilkenny's city status and to reintroduce college fees, tried to close the scenic but extremely effective station. Here's what he said in 2007.

"I have confirmed that locating one on the east coast and one on the west coast is the preferred option and that the east coast centre should be co-located with the HQ."

The station has provided a superb service to seafarers for generations and provides invaluable employment to a small fishing community which has been ravaged by emigration and the decline of fishing.

Radio communication has a historic place in the life of Valentia, putting it at the heart of the telecommunications history of the world. It was from just down the road in Knightstown that the first trans-atlantic cable was laid in 1866, sending the first electronic message from Europe to America.

Now the doughty fighters of 'The Island' and their allies all over the Iveragh penninsula have succeeded in defeating yet another Minister. The fact that they had to campaign nationally for ten years will give the lie to claims from both John O' Donoghue and the Healy Rae clan that they were responsible for victory. Instead the people of Oileán Dairbhre should take a bow at having stood up for themselves. Well done also to Tommy Broughan TD who as our communications spokesperson has consistently stood up for the people pf the area. Like us in Kilkenny and Carlow, the people of South Kerry badly need the return of a Labour voice to represent them in Dáil Éireann.

To appreciate the history of seafaring in the area, one only needs to recall the words of that great local poet Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin in his famous poem and song over 150 years ago:

'Amhrán na Leabhar'

Go Cuan Bhéil Inse casadh mé,

Cois Góilín aoibhinn Dairbhre,

Mar a seoltar flít na farraige,

Thar sáile i gcéin.

I Portmagee do stadas seal,

Faoi thuairim intinn maitheasa,

D'fhonn bheith sealad eatarthu,

Mar mháistir léinn.

Is gearr gur chuala an eachtara,

Ag cách mo léan!

Gur i mBord Eoghain Fhinn do chailleathas,

An t-árthach tréan.

Do phreab mo chroí le hatuirse,

I dtaobh loinge an taoisigh chalma,

Go mb'fhearrde an tír í 'sheasamh seal,

Do ráib an tséin.

Is Féidir Linn

Sin na focail a d'úsáid ceannaire mo pháirtí, Eamon Gilmore ag deireadh a aitheasc i gCill Chainnigh an Satharn seo chaite. Las sé tine faoi bhaill an pháirtí agus más aon comhartha an méid atáim ag clos ó cháirde agus an pobal, faoin dtír ar fad chomh maith.

We've just finished the historic first ever national conference of the Labour Party in Kilkenny and whar a weekend it was. For me, the most memorable conference speech was that of our last hugely successful leader Dick Spring at the famour 'Bread and Roses' caonference in Tralee in 1989. That was pure theatre with its opera and poetry and its sheer novelty. Saturday's sppech was all about content however, right from the start. The first sentence was 'I want to talk to you about solutions', and that was what he did. You can watch the speech below or read it here.

For my own part, I got to speak in the live RTÉ television debate on Saturday morning and you can see the speech here from the party's very forward looking presence on UStream. I also made the main RTÉ news for my comments regarding Fine Gael's attacks on the public service, and was also delighted to make it onto Saturday View, my favourite RTÉ radio programme, and had the privilege of being interviewed by John Bowman. The soundbite was small for all of us but we were there regardless. The coverage continued today as my comments were covered in two pieces in the Irish Times, one on FG and one on class sizes. and the Irish Daily Mail. More importantly of course on a local level I got to do a good piece with Tom Dowling on the afternoon news show on KCLR FM, our local radio station.

Two highlights of the weekend were the long service awards to Carlow/Kilkenny party members. Two of my favourite Labour women got recognition they deserved. Sadie Kelly was my predecessor on the party's National Executive and played a major part in bringing this conference to Kilkenny, work which I was delighted to continue, while the ever youthful Peggy Kerwick was unfortunately absent but her award was collected by my neighbour and great community activist, Seán. The others were Graiguenamanagh man John Bolger, Borris man Willie Hayes, and the unbelieveably fresh looking Paddy Dowd of Coon in North Kilkenny a 93 year old lifelong activist. All got their awards from one of my heroes, party President Michael D. Higgins TD.

He had previously presented the Jim Larkin justice award to Conor MacLiam, husband of the late Susie Long who inspired us so much in her life and her passing. Conor reminded us that Susie was a great socialist and a huge admirer of Larkin, and of course challenged us to keep alive the issues which tragically led to her death.

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.