James Lawless T.D. at a recent event in Intel, Leixlip. Pictured with Cllr. Paul Ward.
I am delighted to have been appointed Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Science and Technology, Research and Development by party leader Michael Martin T.D. this week. This is an area which has been neglected by the current Government with no Minister or Minister of State responsible for such a Department. Continue Reading →
In the wake of the emergency subvention of €36 million announced for CIE, Fianna Fáil’s local area representative for Naas, James Lawless, has criticised Irish Rail management and said they need to innovate to succeed in today’s climate.
Ireland's Railways need strategic thinking fast
“I’ve always been a fan of public transport” explained James, who is also a spokesperson for the Naas and Sallins Rail User Group. “I use the train to Dublin almost every working day and when it’s done right there is no better way to travel” according to James.
“But you sometimes wonder what commercial acumen, if any, do Irish Rail apply to their operation or whether they employ any strategic considerations. We’ve been told their revenue is under pressure because the numbers are dropping and that rings true. But they must realise the prices they are charging are causing that drop-off as well. It’s not so bad on a commuter ticket but they are simply not competitive for day trippers or casual users. Compared with the bus or even taking the car, their fares are far steeper” claimed James.
“Their pricing structures are still rooted on the old tram lines from the beginning of the last century” explained James. “That’s apparently why it costs a couple of euro to travel from Hazelhatch or Maynooth but an extra tenner to travel one stop further onto Sallins. It’s not justifiable today. Also most businesses including hotels and airlines discount seats approaching departure as better a full house on half fare than an empty one at the same cost. The train is going anyway, surely half a loaf would be better than no bread” claimed James.
“Another example is the service quality on certain routes. The Wexford ‘commuter’ line takes two hours by train on a distance no longer than Portlaoise or Drogheda which take an hour. This is on a now primary commuter corridor and also what is a popular Summer base from which so many travel to the capital daily”.
“The ongoing fiasco regarding shelters at Sallins station also makes you wonder. It’s literally hard to see where the shelters will actually fit when they are hopefully installed. They will have to dismantle newly erected structures to make room. It beggars belief that they could spend all that money and end up with almost a worse station than they started with” concluded James.
Statement
James Lawless is a long serving active member of the Fianna Fáil party and will be contesting the Committee of Twenty elections at this year’s Ard-Fheis.
James has been active politically since university when he was involved in students union campaigns. James is a former Chair of Wexford Ógra Fianna Fáil and is currently Chair of the Sallins Cumann and vice-Chair of Naas Comhairle Ceantair. James served at national level before as a Leinster rep on the National Youth Committee. In 2011 James re-established the Cearbhall Ó’Dálaigh cumann at Kings Inns and is currently Chair. In 2009 James ran for local elections to Kildare county council as a Fianna Fáil candidate – despite a record low for the party, James polled credibly for a first time candidate achieving half a quota on the first count and was the last to be eliminated. James would be economically centrist whilst being more conservative on social issues. Public transport, area planning, political and legal reforms are policy interests allied to a strong Republican ideology. James is a strong believer in traditional party heritage and is a local organiser of the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown (as pictured). He was also part of the team behind the new Fianna Fáil magazine, CUISLE, launched recently.
Growing up in north Wexford, as a young adult James worked at a variety of jobs in the tourist and service industries. Since college his professional career has been largely within IT. Currently he works as a systems analyst within the insurance and financial service industries.
James studied at Trinity College from where he has a primary degree in Mathematics and a masters degree in High Performance Computing. James is currently studying law by night at Kings Inns where he recently took first place in exams overall as well as a number of individual prizes.
In his spare time James enjoys jogging, a round of golf or exploring the great outdoors with his children and their dogs. James is also a keen follower of Gaelic games and is involved locally with Sallins GAA.
Other local involvements include Sallins Community Games, Sallins Community Council, Naas & Sallins Rail Users Group, Naas Toastmasters, Bodenstown Golf Club, Sallins Fianna Fáil and Sallins Pier Residents Association.
It’s been a while since I updated this blog and I am conscious there may be a degree of tumbleweed about the place. I haven’t been blogging lately because I simply haven’t had time. I am now studying law by nights at the Kings Inns college which, whilst I am enjoying it immensely and was the right challenge for me at the right time, it doesn’t leave much time for anything else, especially with a fully fledged day job and a family to raise. I haven’t abandoned the blog, so much as been squeezed out of it. Reading an article in a paper is a luxury for me some days, let alone writing one.
It’s been a busy time in Irish Politics and I’ve certainly being paying attention there. Whilst I am an optimist by nature I have been pretty down about the state of the nation in general over the past while, but am trying to stay positive and see a light at the end of tunnel. Whilst we are borrowing from the IMF & EU, we had to borrow anyway, so in one sense its just a case of switching lenders. And at a better interest rate than the bond markets were going to give us any time soon – though I have a major problem with the EU interest rate – the IMF rate is apparently in the order of 3% so to average at 5.8 we can only guess where the EU have pitched theirs. Anyway that’s a topic for a discussion of its own another day.
On political matters, it’s only a matter of time now (Spring 2011?) till the government leave office, although who their successors will be is still very uncertain. There are an awful lot of people against the government, but who they select as a replacement is likely to be not a single preference but a multitude of different ones. Once the common enemy is gone, they may turn out to have some very different friends. Pundits and polls predict an FG / Labour coalition of some shape or form but anything can happen between now and polling day. I imagine left and hard left parties could do well, I also think a straight talking, unapologetically right wing party could do very well (proper capitalism – burn the banks and start again rather than a state rescue) although none has really emerged yet.
I think the Taoiseach seems to have finally got into gear, two years too late. A couple of good performances from him over the last couple days, perhaps now the exit is finally in sight he may feel the monkey is at last off his back. Those of us in FF who had seen him in action previously always knew what he was made of, he wouldn’t have got the top job otherwise, it’s just such a pity he had to hide his light under a bushel ever since. I’m not sure that he ever actually wanted the job, but landing in it, I believe he felt a duty to run with it as best he could. He may have seen it as unpatriotic to do otherwise. A putsch halfway through may have come as a blessing to him though. Private reports suggest he is looking forward to this particular reign, double annus horribilis at last coming to an end.
Some folk have recently inquired my own political intentions with an election in the offing. People will be aware I ran for local elections in 2009 and put as much effort and energy as I could muster into that campaign. I met folk from all around the constituency and developed a good understanding of the practical and theoretical issues of the area and of local representation in general. I do greatly appreciate the significant support I received and had I been elected I would have repaid it in spades, taking on the task with gusto, available to all and getting stuck into policy and reform initiatives at council level, as well as working my way through a to-do list of the issues raised with me during the campaign.
Not being elected I can’t do that. And nobody funds a would-be politician to sit around waiting for the next election to come along. So it’s been back to the family and back to the day job as life goes on and the wolf must be kept from the door. Had I been elected to council last year I would have been in a position to prioritise politics, I could have structured my lifestyle and working arrangements differently, and may well have been considering the next step now (i.e. running for national office) but that not happening I just don’t see it as practically possible to take further steps at this point. Elections cost a lot of time and a lot of money and I haven’t a lot of either at the moment. And the real world doesn’t go on hold whilst one goes off campaigning. (One of the reasons so many of the council are retirees – some earlier thoughts on this here – http://jameslawless.ie/2008/03/14/butcher-baker-candlestick-maker/). Anyway I’m not walking away, I am still involved in local matters and will remain so, (I have yet to turn anyone from the door), but there are only so many hours in each day and it is very hard to do the job of a full time representative when one is not one.