Sean O'Brien (Independent), Tullamore

We sent a questionnaire to all 12 candidates running in the Tullamore Electoral Area in the forthcoming Offaly County Council election. The responses were published in print in the Offaly Independent last Friday.

ADDRESS: 83 Whitehall, Tullamore

PARTY: Independent

SPECIAL AREAS OF INTEREST:

Housing, Job Creation, Community Development, Good services for residents of all areas.

WHY ARE YOU RUNNING IN THIS ELECTION?

As an Independent full-time councillor I want to offer people an alternative to the political parties and end the cosy consensus.

WHAT ARE THE TWO BIGGEST ISSUES IN YOUR AREA?

Housing is a major issue right across the community. House prices are too high for many young couples and they find it hard to save for a Deposit due to the high rents they are paying. Rents are at crazy levels. Young, talented people are emigrating, because of this we are losing skilled workers and essential workers such as nurses. Targets for social housing are too low and people are on housing wait lists for ten years and more; there are poor homeless services locally. Immigration is an issue because the Government does not have a clear policy or focus. People genuinely want to help those fleeing awful wars and those who genuinely need asylum. People see that there is no control on who or how many people are coming into our country. There is no proper planning for the provision of services such as GP's, school places. Very poor consultation with local communities has built up fears about who precisely will be allocated accommodation in their community.

WHO DO YOU MOST ADMIRE AND WHY?

President Higgins who is such a great representative for our country and he speaks his mind.

TELL US SOMETHING PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU:

I was a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe for seven years for whom I undertook observation of Local Elections in Northern Macedonia, Armenia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Montenegro and Palestine.