Public forum showcases the variety of candidates contesting seats in Tipperary North

Monday night saw eleven of the fourteen Tipperary North candidates take to the stage in Roscrea’s Abbey Hall for a forum hosted by the Roscrea Community Development Council (RCDC).

Cllr Phyll Bugler (FG), Dan Harty (SF), Michael Lowry TD (Ind), Peter Madden (TIP), Liam Minehan (Ind), Francis O’Toole (Aontú), Justin Phelan (Ind), Iva Pocock (GP), Cllr Jim Ryan (Ind) and Cllr Michael Smith (FF) were all present and had five minutes each to present their case to the full crowd in Roscrea. Absent from the discussion were Cllr Ryan O’Meara (FF), Diane O’Dwyer (PBP) and Evan Barry (SF).

The various candidates were quick to go through their CVs, discussing their accomplishments both locally in Roscrea and on a national scale where appropriate, but the real conversation began when the crowd started to get involved and have their say.
A local woman was the first to speak out, she told the panel about her life living with a child with autism and the great level of difficulty she had been going through to find a place in a local school for her child who would soon be starting first year in secondary school.

Close to tears, she gave a an emotional speech to the candidates, stating that “none of the major parties had ever helped” her and said to Cllr Michael Smith that “I contacted you years ago asking for help and you did nothing for me”.

It was a difficult case to defend for the panel as Geraldine was quick to shoot down party candidates who had “made empty promises before”. The Green Party’s Iva Pocock gave it her best shot, empathising with Geraldine and telling her that this would be a key priority for her if elected.

Alan Kelly TD also offered a sincere response explaining that he is currently working with groups to try to amend this problem, telling her that he would even speak to her privately after the meeting and explained that he wants a Junior Minister assigned to cover this area specifically in both the Department of Health and the Department of Education.

Liam Minehan and Peter Madden took a different approach with Peter asking the question, “well why are there so many autistic children now anyway?” Some of their suggestions being that vaccines, food or even clothes were perhaps the root cause.

Another audience member spoke next and told the candidates how a number of months ago, his daughter suffered a nine-minute seizure in the middle of the night and it took an ambulance two hours to arrive to their house in Roscrea. He said his case was lucky as he knew a doctor that was able to come help late at night and that local gardaí and firemen were very helpful but that it was “ridiculous that it would take an ambulance two hours to get there in a situation that could have been much worse.” Cllr Jim Ryan took to this question first, agreeing with the man and saying that fixing this issue has been a key priority for him as local councillor in Thurles and that it would remain a key priority if he was elected TD.

The issues at University Hospital Limerick were also a common point of frustration amongst audience members. A number of the politicians shared these same frustrations with Alan Kelly TD saying “people are genuinely afraid to go into UHL, we need the emergency department in Nenagh reopened because the situation in UHL is beyond crisis point.”

Other than these key points from the audience, a number of common issues came up between candidates. Childcare, the housing crisis, cost of living and the healthcare system were all mentioned by most candidates and were promised as key focus areas if they are elected.

Cllr Michael Smith who was on home turf in Roscrea focused a great deal on the work he has done for Roscrea in his 20 years as an elected representative so far.

He stated: “I don’t think there’s a group in Roscrea that I haven’t helped or assisted in some way” adding that he has “been turning up for Roscrea for 20 years and that he would continue to do so”.

Some of the lesser known newcomers chose to focus on their hopes to get the current Government parties out of power with Liam Minehan calling them “a coalition of nut-jobs” and Peter Madden stating “if you keep putting the same clowns in, you’re going to get the same cr*p”.