Sinn Féin leader receives warm reception during visit to Offaly

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald received "a warm reception” when she visited a number of locations in Offaly last Thursday, according to Birr-based local election candidate, Seán Maher.

Mr. Maher, who has finally been given the go-ahead to contest the local elections following the cancellation of two Sinn Féin selection conventions organised by the local Birr Cumann, said the party machine in the Birr electoral area is “very strong” and there is “a huge appetite for change” among the local electorate.

The Birr man, who says he has been out canvassing for the last number of weeks, accompanied Mary Lou McDonald on her visit to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland Day Centre in Birr where they met with residents and also held a meeting with management to discuss the funding crisis facing the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI) and the local day centre in Birr.

Mr Maher also accompanied the Sinn Féin party leader on her visit to the Laois Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) National Construction Training Centre in Mount Lucas, on the outskirts of Daingean in north Offaly. The party leader also visited Tullamore and Edenderry during her tour of Offaly.

Among the other party political representatives to accompany the Sinn Féin leader on her visit to Offaly were Chris McManus MEP and local election hopefuls in Tullamore and Edenderry, Aoife Masterson and Claire Murray respectively.

Mary Lou McDonald was loud in her praise of the National Construction Training Campus in Mount Lucas and spoke of the need to “scale up training in construction” in order to tackle the housing crisis, which she described as Sinn Féin's “number one priority.” She added that the work being done on the campus needs to be “resourced, supported and scaled-up to allow us deliver enough houses at pace to address the housing crisis.”

She was less complimentary, however, about the state of the roads in North Offaly which she described as “deplorable.” She pledged to work with North Offaly roads campaigners to help ensure that the proper investment is directed into the road network across the area and said that people and communities across North Offaly have the right to “decent and well-maintained roads that are safe.”

Meanwhile, Birr local election candidate Sean Maher said one of the big issues coming up on the doorsteps during his canvass of the South Offaly area is “the lack of consultation with local communities and local public representatives” in relation to the housing of refugees and international protection applicants, which he feels is “fuelling the far right.”

While he says local communities across Offaly and the rest of the country are “more than willing” to play their part in accepting their share of refugees, he said there needs to be “much more consultation and engagement” with local people in advance of any concrete plans being made.