An Roimh Aire, Teachtaí Dála , Comhairleoirí agus Cairde

Minister, Deputies, fellow candidates and friends…

It is a great honour to address you here tonight as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Kildare County council.

The first step of my journey occurred last June when I was nominated by my home cumann of Sallins. I am very grateful for their constant support and I will work tirelessly to fulfil the trust placed in me.

I was delighted to then go on and be selected as a Fianna Fáil candidate for the Naas area – I look forward working with all of you over the campaign ahead.

I would also like to thank my three strongest supporters who are here with me tonight – my wife Ailish and our two daughters, Caoimhe and Niamh … It is their support that makes it all possible and I remain grateful and energised by their faith in me…

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On a personal level, my own political apprenticeship began by the fireside in county Wexford..

My grandfather especially was a great raconteur and historian, and I was raised on tales of rebellion and 1798, of the ‘rising of the moon’

Of course I am well aware how that struggle was carried out across the fields of Kildare also… in places like Kill, and Johnstown, at the barracks in Naas town,

and indeed in Sallins as well we have our own place of homage, at Bodenstown where Wolfe Tone lies..

I consider myself a Republican in every sense of the word.

In the traditional, narrower Irish sense, as a proud nationalist and one who looks forward to a Fianna Fáil party organised on a 32 county basis, and also to eventual reunification..

But also a Republican in the classic sense, as a believer in this great modern democracy where all are equal, no one above any other..

Social justice is a theme close to my own heart as we must always cherish all the citizens of the nation equally and nurture those who have not..

I believe listening to be the strongest form of leadership .. both on the doors where we hear the human stories.

And in the party where I would plan, as a Fianna Fáil councillor, to draw upon the huge resource that is the pool of knowledge and expertise that lies within the local organisation to be guided by local units and realise the potential of this august organisation…

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Cairde, tonight all of us are gathered here to launch our local election campaign…

But it is also important to look further down the road, at the five years after polling day which is when the real work will be done..

Over the next council term, local area plans will be introduced in many areas –

Johnstown, Kill, Kilteel and TwoMileHouse are just a few that are to come in the year ahead.. Naas town plan is due for renewal in the next two years also

I have been on the doors and I have heard the stories and needs of our communities…

In every area we must put in place amenities to serve the demands of the population we have seen grow in recent years..

For the families that seek playgrounds for their children …

For the youth clubs that need new centres and new homes

For the sports groups that are living on goodwill, living on borrowed time, or on a borrowed pitch.. Or victims of their own success, struggling with gridlock on a pitch they have outgrown..

We must strongly support facilities for all of these

Already in Sallins, I have been proud to support the initiative to develop a 30 acre site for amenity use, to be used by multiple codes, but spearheaded by Sallins GAA… I have supported it in local meetings, on the streets when a petition was required to reaffirm public support, and I will be proud to support it from the council chamber as the project advances.. The model could become a blueprint for amenity developments elsewhere..

Again at local level, we must keep our roads in good order – be that a laneway in Donore, a junction at Osberstown or completion of the ring road around Naas. . we must progress all these projects large and small..

Whilst we must also promote public transport options at every opportunity..

I was acutely aware of the responsibility and gravity of public service the night I received a phone call recently from a man who literally had no bed for the night – I found him temporary accommodation but reaffirmed the importance of housing strategy to ensure a roof exists over every head…

For employment and local economy we must support local enterprise with infrastructure and other supports .. to ensure success for projects like the Millenium park and the Naas Town Centre to breathe life back into the town..

…and also to include enablement of our rural communities where issues like broadband provision must be addressed (and I am already working on this in places like Eadestown, Two Mile House and Caragh)..

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A chairde, in recent months I have been campaigning for the election but I have been campaigning for the area for a lot longer…

When, as a daily commuter I helped setup and run the Naas and Sallins rail users group and have campaigned to deliver year after year real improvements for local commuters..

When a bypass was due to cut across the green where my children played and I successfully argued for the route to be moved outside and away from the houses..

For my own estate and others on the bread and butter issues of local representation such as management companies and taking in charge and saving our green spaces..

Or when Sallins village had no recycling facilities and it took me a year of long slog and perseverance but I did not rest until we finally saw the banks installed last Christmas..

A chairde as I stand here tonight as your local election candidate be assured that I will campaign solidly for the entire area, and not just for the election ahead, but for the five years after that if I am given that opportunity…

And over the next two months I will be campaigning to maximise the Fianna Fáil representation on Kildare County Council….

I will work with my colleagues and running mates and with the local organisation..

As we launch that campaign here tonight, no one here doubts the challenges we must face over the coming weeks

But it is my firm belief that a fair-weather politician is no good to anyone…

This is not the time to bow our heads..

This is the time to stand up and be counted…

All of us here tonight are doing exactly that…

The road may be long, our climb may be steep, but I am confident we will reach the summit..

I have no doubt the Fianna Fáil organisation has the resilience, the strength and the courage of its convictions to meet the challenges ahead, both at local and national level.

We have a strong team here tonight..

All of us here are committed.. all of us here are capable.. all of us are Fianna Fáil…

Let us now go from here tonight in full confidence of victory and ready for the fight!

A chairde, buichios anois, oiche mhaith agaibh agus ar aghaigh le Fianna Fail!