Council criticised for Cnoc Na Greine lights issue

Kildare County Council's officials were told in no uncertain terms yesterday that 'not taken in charge' is a completely unacceptable response to the street lighting problems in Cnoc Na Gréine, writes Brian Byrne.

The issue, highlighted on Monday on the Diary, was raised by Cllr Rob Power (FF) at yesterday's meeting of the Naas Municipal District. He said that people living in the estate, comprising over 300 houses, 'don't feel safe' and 'can't walk from one end to the other without going into darkness'.

The response from the authority was that 'the housing estate is not taken in charge of Kildare County Council and the Transportation Department is not responsible for lighting in the estate'.

The meeting heard that the company which developed the estate is in receivership, but that the developer himself is 'still in business'. Cllr Power asked why the €75,000 bond held by the Council on the development is not being utilised to deal with the problem? "The evenings are getting shorter, and the residents at this stage are at a loss," he said, adding that the Council should deal with the situation 'directly'.

Cllr Fintan Brett (FG) said he found it hard to understand how problems like this can't be dealt with, and that it is a health and safety issue that really doesn't cost a lot to fix. "Most of the time it's the bulbs or the sensors, and they don't cost thousands. These people are paying their LPT and we should be obliged to see that they get value for it. This is not a high cost, and we should be proactive in dealing with it if the builder isn't doing his job." He suggested that the Council should have a designated person to fix such problems.

Cllr Darren Scully (FG) said that 'it's just not good enough' for the Council to give planning permissions and take bonds, and not be responsible if a builder doesn't fulfil his part. "People have paid for their houses, paid Stamp Duty, and are paying LPT," he said. "This authority took the bond in case something went wrong. We should do what is right by the residents, and subsequently pursue the developer, and I hope that the Council uses a bit of common sense here." Cllr Hillis (FG) agreed, saying that it's only a matter of switching the lights on.

Cllr Sorcha O'Neill (SF) said that lights in the estate had been fixed several times by Airtricity, the lights maintenance contractor to the Council, but that the residents had 'worn out their favours' with the company. She said it was a small amount of money to fix the matter, and it should be taken from the bond now. "I understand that the residents committee in the estate disbanded because they've been banging their head off a wall here."

Cllr Seamie Moore (Ind), in the chair, said that there were quite a few similar situations on the Agenda over the term of the last Council. "I thought that the Council had taken a softer view on them, where the infrastructure exists. I'd ask that they look at this case."

Cllr Power suggested that the Council ask the builder to fix the lights within a set period, and if he didn't, then the Council should do it and bill him.

Cllr James Lawless (FF) said it reflected the fact that the taking in charge of estates had all but stopped in recent times. "At the last Council meeting we passed a motion that the authority should go ahead with taking a number of estates in charge, and we should get along with that."

The meeting was told that a 'more detailed report' on what is holding things up would be provided.

Nobody shook hands with the elephant

It was easy to tell the experienced councillors from the newbies, writes Brian Byrne. They knew the game. They had their ducks in a row. Agreement as to who would hit which. When. And how.

There was talk beforehand about 'unlikely alliances'. Even that there mightn't be a Mayor elected at the annual meeting of Kildare County Council. But the hands had been shaken long before Friday.

So when well-seasoned Suzanne Doyle nominated her Fianna Fail colleague Fiona O'Loughlin as first Mayor of the new Council, with a record of 'outstanding public service', she could do so with a typical for her sense of confidence. When Fine Gael's Brendan Weld seconded Fiona as someone 'who will provide stability', the deal for the duration was clear. The Civil War is over.

Not that the two parties haven't worked together before in Council. Local politics is nothing if not pragmatic. I last covered the Kildare chamber about a decade ago, and there were many occasions when decisions had been sorted in similar fashion long before they were argued through meetings agendas. Maybe not so much in the last 25-member group, where there was a much more dominant Fine Gael and Labour. Though honestly, I don't know. I've been away too long.

But this new 40-member Council is where the current Government coalition makeup can't manage a majority. There's also the very visible elephant in the chamber. Sinn Fein, a one-person minority when I was last here. But this time with seats in all five of the new Municipal Areas. Winning them handsomely, particularly who will certainly become their star, Sorcha O'Neill in the Naas MA. With the SF domination of Dublin authorities looming over their shoulders, and a sharp, even unpalatable flavour from new independents, there was a pressing reason for the Civil War parties to finally bury the hatchet.

At the opening meeting of the new Council they also showed that their strategy is to try and bury the Shinners in Kildare. In vote after vote for various positions from Deputy Mayor down through a myriad of national and local committees representation, the five SF hands up, occasionally joined by an Independent or two, failed to make an impact. Especially against the practised confidence of Suzanne Doyle and Fine Gael's Darren Scully. Maybe they didn't know that he had been drafted by the party to other parts of the country as a mentor to FG newbies for this election. Stoically, they kept raising their hands anyhow.

A number of committees are to be filled at MA level, and it may well be that the dominant representations on these will be more generous to this new, but significant and disciplined minority. Whatever, even if the Sinn Fein councillors are very much among the newbies, they're also a quick study. And they take the long view.

I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop as this Council finds its feet. It's still the best spectator sport in town. But a deadly serious one for all Kildare citizens who have elected this 40 to represent us. It's a great pity that so few of those bother to follow proceedings from the public gallery (which is maybe why it was designed so small).

Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin said after her election as Mayor that she still has to get to know many of those who faced her top desk at Friday's meeting. I hope I will too. It's not just the Naas MA members who have Kilcullen's future in their hands.

And then, there's that next general election ... maybe the hands for that are already being shaken, too.

Fianna Fáil gets first crack at new Council Mayor

Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin of Fianna Fáil has been elected as the new Mayor of Kildare, writes Brian Byrne. She is a member of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District.

The Deputy Mayor is Cllr Frank O'Rourke (FF) of the Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District. The elections were held at the Annual Meeting of Kildare County Council today, the first meeting of the new Council.

Outgoing Mayor Mark Wall (LAB) thanked the previous Council, and also the staff, managers, and outdoor staff, for what they had done for Kildare during the duration of the previous authority. Equally the community groups and other organisations around the county who invited him to their events, which he considered as 'a great honour'. "On my own behalf, and on behalf of the people in the Athy area which I represent, it was great to work with all of them," he said. "I look forward to working in the new municipal district."

His area colleague Martin Miley (FF) responded, saying the Mayor had served with distinction and pride. "It was a pride to the Athy area that you were Mayor, and your neutrality was present throughout." Compliments were also given by councillors from other parties and independents.

Fiona O'Loughlin was proposed as the first Mayor of the new Council by her party colleague Cllr Suzanne Doyle, who said her record of public service is 'outstanding'. Cllr O'Loughlin was elected with 22 votes, against 11 for Cllr Padraig McEvoy, Independent, and three for Cllr Sorcha O'Neill of Sinn Fein.

Mayor O'Loughlin thanked everybody for their support, and particularly those others who had allowed their names be put forward. "I feel it is very important that there be an election, especially at the beginning of a Council."

She noted that her journey to the Mayor position had been 'a very long one', with 15 years of service on Kildare County Council and 20 on Naas Town Council and its previous incarnation. She recalled that her father Jimmy was a councillor for many years also, and there had been an O'Loughlin on the very first Kildare local authority.

"Every one of us here today has come through a gruelling election process," she continued. "I would also like to thank all those who went for election but didn't make it. We're all thinking of them today."

The Mayor said everyone in the Chamber was there with one motivation, to make their county a good place in which to live and work. There are many issues and challenges to be resolved, and it was vitally important that the Council be responsive to the citizens of the county, and address the economic and cultural issues facing it.

She said the Council must also prioritise the support of excellent voluntary and sporting groups, and use the facilities of the Council to help them as well as the families and communities which have been 'hollowed out' by job losses and emigration. "This is a very different council," she concluded. "I look forward to working with you for the benefit of the Council and the county."

The Council's CEO Eamon O'Sullivan said the new Mayor will carry out her duties 'with aplomb and with dignity' and that he looked forward to working with her. He noted that the local authority reforms will 'fundamentally alter the way we do business'. "We in the Council have to make sure that it is reform for the betterment of Kildare. It's an exciting time for this great county."

We have councillors, now it's up to us

So, with the dust settled on the elections at least locally to Kilcullen, what was it all about and what will be? writes Brian Byrne.

Well, in the Naas area through which we will be represented in the next five years, we now have a mixture of stalwarts and new people in the Council chamber. But all of them in a totally new environment. That has ramifications which weren't necessarily part of the electoral to and fro on the canvass grounds in advance of last Friday's poll.

For a start, instead of a Council of 25 members, the new one will have 40. Quite apart from the fact that this is going to mean a major rejig of seating in the Council chamber at Arus Cill Dara to an 'inner' and 'outer' arrangement (and a whole new meaning to the term 'backbenchers'), discussions on business will become more complex, and will take longer. Whoever has the mayoral chair will need singular skills to keep things on track. And whoever schedules the agenda will also have to be aware of new limitations on what is possible to deal with in a meeting.

'Our' councillors of the Naas Municipal District — the term replaces 'local electoral area' once the new Council is established — will be fighting to make their voices heard from a larger, and louder, chorus. They will also be trying to optimise our District's share of resources, both services and financial, in a new era where the Council is going to have to make much more difficult decisions on its funding above and beyond the share of local property tax which will be the baseline financial underpinning of its activities. Competing claims from Kildare-Newbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip-Celbridge, and Athy will likely be much more compelling than was the case before. And into that bubbling cauldron, there's the seasoning of a political landscape which has changed, not as drastically as this weekend's headlines might suggest, but a fair bit.

Before the election we in Kilcullen and the Naas LEA were given the opportunity to sift through the political and personal attributes of some 16 candidates seeking to have them represent us. We now have the chosen nine by those four in ten of us in Kilcullen who elected to make a decision last Friday.

Whether we like it or not, we in Kilcullen now need to consider our village grown bigger as an extension of Naas. The county town no longer has a separate Town Council, formerly UDC, which insulated itself somewhat from Kildare County Council, and which kept us fairly significantly distanced from that town's needs and decisions. We can no longer expect that buffer, especially now that we are electorally and politically part and parcel of the new Naas Municipal District. And, really, back to where we belong in practical area terms.

When, under the auspices of KCA, we organised the innovative Town Meeting for candidates in advance of the election, most of those who have now been elected turned up. Others sent apologies for acceptable reasons. A handful of the many hundreds of Kilcullen households sent representatives to take part.

I spent most of the past day and a half at the Punchestown Count Centre, covering the proceedings of the Naas LEA for Kilcullen of a democratic electoral process which I believe, whatever its flaws, works as amongst the best of its kind in the world. I met and talked with both elected and unsuccessful candidates, and all of them were positive about our Town Meeting initiative. Some are already on their own record as being ready to do it on a regular basis. Certainly, we have commitments that they will turn up to another one in advance of voting on the Draft Kilcullen Local Area Plan, a meeting which KCA has already decided to arrange.

Because as a community we are now in a much more competitive situation for those services and financial supports which may become available from Kildare County Council, it is in Kilcullen's best interests that we engage with and support all of the new councillors who will be representing us. It is all the more reason why we need to meet with them all regularly on our turf, which is their Kilcullen turf no matter where they reside in the NMD. If we have issues, they need to know that we all believe in letting our representatives know about them.

Bottom line, now we're all in this together. When we organise meetings with those who are looking after our local affairs over the next five years, we need to show that we care about what they do. By turning up when they come to hear us.

The election is over. Now comes the hard part. To make it all work. For us, as part of Naas, in support of Naas, and for Kilcullen. Do make the effort when asked.

Breen, Hillis and Brett elected

Anne Breen of Labour was elected on Count Twelve of the Naas LEA at noon, writes Brian Byrne.

Following her election, Billy Hillis and Fintan Brett of FG were deemed to be elected without reaching the quota.



The count in the area is now completed pro tem. A completion count will be carried out later to distribute Anne Breen's surplus of 218 and Independent Paddy Horan's 807 votes for record purposes.

Shape of Naas LEA now clear

Following the election of Callaghan and Power, the focus is now on the last three seats, writes Brian Byrne.

It's now looking very clear that Anne Breen (centre above) will be next elected for Labour, and the last two seats will be taken by Billy Hillis (left) and Fintan Brett of FG, both currently on 1,047 and 1,027 votes respectively.

That will make the shape of the Naas LEA at three FF, three FG, one Labour, one Independent, and one Sinn Fein.

The votes of Labour's Fergus Carpenter, 759, are now being distributed.

Callaghan, Power, elected

Willie Callaghan and Rob Power have been elected to the Naas LEA of Kildare County Council on the ninth count, writes Brian Byrne.



Their election came on the distribution of FG's Jacinta Scully votes, the main ones of which were divided between Anne Breen of Labour, and Fintan Brett and Billy Hillis of FG.

O'Sullivan eliminated on Count Eight

At the end of Count Eight, Jacinta O'Sullivan of Fine Gael has been excluded and her 694 votes are now being distributed amongst the remaining candidates, writes Brian Byrne.

In the count, Ger Dunne's 575 votes being distributed didn't result in any election. Fellow Labour candidate Anne Breen received 168 of them, and Willie Callaghan of Fianna Fail got 107, and Labour's Fergus Carpenter got 56. Non-transferable votes numbered 101.

It's expected that Billy Hillis of FG should get around half of Jacinta O'Sullivan's distribution. The state of play now is Anne Breen 1,074, Fintan Brett 885, Willie Callaghan 1,304, Fergus Carpenter 721, Billy Hillis 893, Paddy Horan 739, and Rob Power 1,283.

The election homily

In the meantime, as it's a Sunday, I pass on to you this morning a story from Charlie Talbot here at the Punchestown Count Centre, writes Brian Byrne. He said he heard it at Mass during election time, in a homily.

It seems that a local man went for election as an Independent for the first time out, and at the end of a very busy four-week campaign he netted just 17 votes.

A friend asked him had he learned anything from his foray into politics? "I did," he said. "I learned that there are more than 2,000 liars in the town."

Amen.

No election on Count Seven

At the end of Count Seven in the Naas LEA early this morning, there was no further election on the distribution of DDI candidate Martin Byrne's 348 votes, writes Brian Byrne. Independent Paddy Horan received the bulk of Martin Byrne's votes, 164, with 96 of the DDI candidate's votes being non-transferable.

With five seats still to be filled to the 1,315 quota area, the state of play is Labour's Anne Breen on 906 votes, FG's Fintan Brett on 871, FF's Willie Callaghan (1,197), Labour's Fergus Carpenter (665), Labour's Ger Dunne (575), FG's Billy Hillis (872), Indpendent Paddy Horan (706), FG's Jacinta O'Sullivan (661), and Robert Power (1,241).

Those excluded so far are Francis O'Rourke, Cathal Spelman and Martin Byrne. Elected are James Lawless (FF), Sorcha O'Neill (SF), Seamie Moore (Ind) and Darren Scully (FG).

The count has just resumed.

The long wait to Council 2014

At the end of Count Six, with Francis O'Rourke's votes distributed, there was no further candidate elected, writes Brian Byrne. The next lowest candidate's votes — Martin Byrne of DDI — are now being distributed and the proceedings will close until 9.30 tomorrow morning to resume with Count Seven.

It's a waiting game for five more candidates, who include seasoned veterans Billy Hillis (FG) and Willie Callaghan (FF), pictured above with their families.

It's a long haul yet.

Scully elected to fourth seat in Naas LEA

Fine Gael councillor Darren Scully was re-elected to the Naas LEA in Count Five late this evening, writes Brian Byrne.

He gained 13 votes to bring him to 1,321, clearing the 1,315 quota. Just four of the nine councillors to the Naas LEA have now been elected, and Count Six is in progress.

Fourth Count yields no result

The distribution of Seamie Moore's 46 votes (Count Four) resulted in no new election in the Naas LEA poll, writes Brian Byrne.

Almost half of them (22) went to the two Fianna Fail candidates Robert Power and Willie Callaghan, the balance scattered across the card.

Count Five is now in operation.

No election on Naas third count

No candidate was elected following the distribution of Sorcha O'Neill's surplus of 307 votes, writes Brian Byrne.

The biggest recipients of her surplus were Martin Byrne of DDI (59), Independent Paddy Horan (47), Francis O'Rourke (37) and Robert Power (24).

Seamie Moore's 46 votes surplus is now being allocated.

Athy LEA count tomorrow

The Athy LEA count will begin at 9.30am tomorrow, following the very late start to all counts today, writes Brian Byrne.

Ivan Keatley is the Kilcullen interest, as he formerly represented the town when it was in the Athy area. He's pictured with his predecessor and now Kildare South TD Martin Heydon, checking out the national position.

Moore gets third Council seat on Naas LEA

Seamie Moore, Independent, has been elected to the new Kildare County Council with the distribution of James Lawless's surplus, writes Brian Byrne.

Heading into the next count, Anne Breen has 846, Fintan Brett 843, Martin Byrne 241, Willie Callaghan 1,119, Fergus Carpenter 631, Ger Dunne 539, Billy Hillis 839, Paddy Horan 308, Francis O'Rourke 197, Jacinta O'Sullivan 623, Robert Power 1,174, Darren Scully 1,291 and Cathal Spelman 194.

Two elected on the first Naas LEA count

James Lawless of Fianna Fail and Sorcha O'Neill of Sinn Fein have been elected to Kildare County Council on the first count of the Naas Municipal Area, writes Brian Byrne.

Lawless got 2,123 votes, easily winning his seat on a quota of 1,315. O'Neill polled 1,622 votes. Both were first time runners in the area.

Waiting in the wings for the second count are Independent Seamie Moore with 1,307, just failing to make the quota first time around. He's followed by FG's Darren Scully (1,213), FF's Robert Power (958), FF's Willie Callaghan (950), FG's Billy Hillis (822), Labour's Anne Breen (816), FG's Fintan Brett (800), FG's Jacinta O'Sullivan (593), Labour's Fergus Carpenter (526), Labour's Ger Dunne (524), Independent Paddy Horan (297), DDI's Martin Byrne(226), Independent Francis O'Rourke (184) and Independent Cathal Spelman (182).

The second count is under way.

Zzzzzz ...

At nine minutes past the teatime Angelus, still no result from any count at the Centre in Punchestown, writes Brian Byrne. This is the slowest election count I have ever attended, and people are even having picnics on the floor with their kids while waiting. Daft. At best ...

Almost on the way

Right then ... nearly off. Putting the voting papers into the candidates' spaces. Then they count.

(If there's anything happening in Kilcullen, text me!)

Waiting ... waiting

This is promising to be a very long day for all concerned, writes Brian Byrne. The Naas Area count hasn't yet started, now two hours late, and the Athy people will have to wait until that's done.

More when it happens.

Final Naas Area tally

With all the boxes in the Naas Municipal Area tallied, the leading candidate is James Lawless of Fianna Fail with 16.4 percent, followed by Sorcha O'Neill of Sinn Fein (12.5%), Independent Seamie Moore (10.1%), FG's Darren Scully (9.5%), Fianna Fail's Robert Power (7.3%), FF's Willie Callaghan (7.2%) and Labour's Anne Breen (6.2%).

After that it's FG's Fintan Brett (6.0%), FG's Billy Hillis (5.0%), FG Jacinta O'Sullivan (4.6%), Labour's Fergus Carpenter (4.2%), Labour's Ger Dunne (4.1%), Direct Democracy's Martin Byrne (1.8%), Independent Cathal Spellman (1.3%) and Independent Francis O'Rourke (1.3%).

Election count: First indicators

With the tally completed for the Athy Municipal Area, the indications are two Fianna Fail, two Labour, one Fine Gael, and probably a Sinn Fein tussle for the last seat, writes Brian Byrne.

On the predictions, Martin Miley (FF) will head the poll at 17 percent, with Mark Wall (Lab) coming second with 15 percent. Mark Dalton (FF) has 13.4 percent of the tally, while Aoife Breslin (Lab) has 11.9 percent. Ivan Keatley (FG) is expected to gain 11.5 percent.

With six seats in the area, the next placings on the tally are FG's Richard O'Rourke (9%), Sinn Fein's Thomas Redmond (8.2%), Jer Kelly of Sinn Fein (7.9%) and Fine Gael's Richard Daly (5.7%).

The Naas Municipal Area boxes are still being tallied, but early indications are showing Sorcha O'Neill (SF) and Rob Power (FF) doing very well from the Kilcullen area, while James Lawless (FF) is also doing very well in Naas.

The actual Naas count is scheduled to begin at 12 noon, the Athy count won't be done until Naas is completed.

Sorcha comes to town

Sorcha O'Neill of Sinn Fein and friends canvassing in Kilcullen this morning.

That Town Meeting ...

With some 2,500 households in Kilcullen, it might seem a small result that about 50 people turned up to last week's Town Hall Meeting to hear and talk to Naas area election candidates, writes Brian Byrne. And for the nine councillor-hopefuls who turned up, it was a gamble to spend a full night of shrinking canvass time in front of an audience prepared to ask questions ... and in some cases take no quarter.

But it was an enlightening couple of hours for all concerned, and when it was over there was a definite sense that dialogue more than a doorstep conversation had taken place. Those voters who came along had the benefit of comparison which a Town Hall Meeting forum can provide. And the candidates probably learned as much about each other as they did about the issues which exercise Kilcullen people.

Those issues are arguably not any different than in any other community. Jobs, business support, roads and footpaths maintenance, communication with the people on decisions that potentially effect their lives and businesses. Oddly enough, the national matters that are on the loose didn't intrude on the evening, reflecting again the truism that all politics is local.

Since a number of the candidates present — Darren Scully, Anne Breen, and Seamie Moore — are current Naas area councillors, the matter of business stagnation in Naas leaked into the evening. A number among the audience expressed concern that even on the smaller scale of Kilcullen, they weren't optimistic that the relevant candidates had shown an ability to deal with the blight of Main Street closed shops in the town.

"What can you deliver to Kilcullen more than what you have failed to deliver in Naas?" asked Kilcullen resident and Naas shopkeeper Antoinette Buckley, kicking off a sometimes heated exchange between herself and the Naas councillors. Others in the audience also expressed their worries in this regard.

Potentially lethal road design and traffic lights sequencing, which have been issues of long standing in Kilcullen, were also raised. Sabina Reddy made it very plain to the candidates that she had little time for a design situation at Thompsons Cross on which KCC and the NRA seemed not to agree, but the real results are a string of accidents and motorists being hospitalised.

At footpath level, the issue of poorly maintained paths was brought up by Sheedhna, a wheelchair-using resident of the Bridge Camphill Community, who related one incident where the footpath condition tipped her chair out onto the road. There was a collective scorn levelled at the local authority's management of issues like these, and candidates scribbled hurried notes.

One big issue was communication with local people in relation to planning and other decisions which might effect the local community. Orla O'Neill used an example of a planning application facilitated by Kildare planners for a proposed vehicle recycling plant close to a large residential area. "Not one of the councillors of the time forewarned us of this, and it took a lot of effort by ourselves to make that go away," she said.

The Direct Democracy candidate, Martin Byrne, probably picked up points there, as it's the main plank of his political movement that representatives would directly inform constituents of such matters, rather than leaving them to be noticed later.

A question as to whether elected councillors would come back to Kilcullen for a forum again in advance of voting on submissions to the Draft Kilcullen Local Area Plan got a predictable 'yes' from all there. Seamie Moore noted, though, that Kilcullen as a community should decide what it wanted from the Plan and make a submission accordingly, as it's 'very difficult to make a judgement on a whole pile of submissions'.

The evening passed quite quickly, with nobody losing interest. In the final roundup, the candidates were asked to say in a minute why they felt they were right for the job. Billy Hillis noted that he had been a councillor since 1985, losing out only in 2009 when the boundaries were changed, and was the only candidate from the Kilcullen area. "Return the local councillor you had, and I'll look after the town," he concluded.

Darren Scully said it was important to return councillors who are not afraid to stand up to officials. He pointed to a 'strong record' in that sphere, and said he'd got 'into a lot of trouble' with officials on that basis over the years. "If you're elected, you're there to do battle. You're batting on behalf of the people, and that's what I'll continue to do, hopefully for this area."

James Lawless reprised that he's had a lot of experience in working with community groups in his own Sallins area, and is good at getting things like local business organisations up and running, and engaging with public bodies. "I'll keep you informed, I'll engage, I'm up for the job."

Rob Power said he has been knocking on doors since October, and after the election, if elected, he'll still be knocking on those doors to see what's required. "I don't have the experience of being a sitting councilor; in fact I wouldn't like to hold that badge, given some of the decisions that have been made to date. I'm a new voice, I want to bring fresh thinking to Kildare County Council."

Anne Breen noted that she had the time, the commitment and the energy for what is to her a full-time job. "I can safely say that this is a full time job. I've been a councillor for five years. I address every issue and have done over the five years — I hope that you will consider all that when making your decision."

Fergus Carpenter had come to listen, he said, noting that this was something he did well. He added that he's also a good negotiator, and 'not stuck in old ideas'. "I will commit to giving accurate information to the people of Kilcullen, not what I think you want to hear, but what's actually happening. Kilcullen is not just an economy, and your young people need activity with which they can engage after school. Roads and footpaths need to be made safer."

The reason Sorcha O'Neill is running is because 'she's angry'. Angry at the state of the towns, that it has taken so long to come up with initiatives — except now at election time. "My anger will drive me, but I'm also more inclined to the collaborative approach rather than the bull in the china shop. I think you need to negotiate through Council."

Martin Byrne noted that he's the only candidate subject to recall, that people have the right to remove if he doesn't perform as promised. "I don't think anyone else here is going to commit to that, because they all have their careers on the line."

Seamie Moore described his political strength as being a community person with no ambitions to higher level. "I've ran for election four times in Naas and I've never been out of the top three. I have brought Naas Tidy Towns from a very low level of 27 to in the top seven positions. I'm a self-starter. I don't wait around."

Well, they only have to wait around for the rest of this week to see what effect their two hours in direct contact with Kilcullen might have done for them. The count is Saturday, in Punchestown Convention Centre.

Billy Hillis in canvass mode

Billy Hillis took advantage of yesterday's fine weather to complete his canvass of Kilcullen, at Nolans Butchers in the company of Kildare South FG TD Martin Heydon and friends.

Was Town Meeting worthwhile?

So, was it all worthwhile organising a Town Hall Meeting with the candidates in the Naas area for next Friday's local elections, asks Brian Byrne? My considered answer is 'yes'.

Just 50 people turned up to interact with the nine election hopefuls who took the gamble on spending a full evening of shrinking canvass time in Kilcullen. That needs to be placed against the fact that there are around 1,000 households in the Kilcullen town area. Maybe 2,000 votes?

The meeting was promoted and previewed on The Bridge Magazine, the Kilcullen Diary, the Kildare Nationalist and the Leinster Leader. KFM gave it news space through last Monday and on the morning of the event they gave me time to appeal to Kilcullen people to offer the same courtesy to the candidates who had committed to come along. Kilcullen Community Action, hosting the event, had also spread the word by text and posters, and I personally sent a score of texts and more than 40 emails to flag the event to my own local contacts.

I have already put in the Diary space my appreciation for those among the 16 candidates who committed to coming. For the ones who didn't make it on the night but gave notice for very valid reasons, I add my thanks on behalf of the community of Kilcullen.

The concept which Orla O'Neill and I were trying to replicate comes from America, in particular New England for which I have significant personal knowledge. Such Town Meetings are an integral part of the local democratic process. Local elected representatives are required to answer to those who put them where they are. Regularly. We don't have that in Ireland, because Council meetings here don't allow opportunity for the public to comment on or question what's going on. Which is why the public gallery in Kildare County Council is mainly populated by Council officials and issue lobbyists.

In that American context, there's usually a good turnout of ordinary electorate ('real people'), especially in smaller communities similar to Kilcullen. What they have, which we don't, is the right to question as an ongoing process. Not every five years when elections come around again.

So, even if it was just 50 people who came to the Town Meeting, I'm feeling positive about it. A template has been devised and implemented. During the meeting, which was a proactive event from the community, the candidates offered opinions and gave commitments. All on the record, not of a Council meeting but directly to Kilcullen. Among other things, those hoping to be elected all said they would come back to a local forum to discuss the Kilcullen Draft LAP before they voted on it. We will hold them to that. And we will be looking to them to attend other meetings locally through the course of their tenure as guardians of our needs.

I'll be placing a more comprehensive report on the meeting here soon. But what I most want to say now is thanks to all who felt committed enough to their community of Kilcullen to come along last Thursday evening. You're not the so-called 'usual suspects'. You're the belief in our future.

I hope you will be joined in large numbers as our 'New Kilcullen' evolves.

(Note: This post was changed to reflect the number of households in the Kilcullen Town area, rather than the earlier household figure for Kilcullen, Carnalway and Gilltown.)

Town Meeting held interest

Well, in the end it was about 50 people turned out to give questions and hear answers from candidates in the Naas area for next week's elections, writes Brian Byrne.

And nine of the 16 candidates took the gamble that it was worth spending one of their remaining precious nights of canvassing on the stage of the Town Hall Theatre explaining why each of them should be considered for the Council seats to be decided this day week. Those who made it were Billy Hillis and Darren Scully of Fine Gael, James Lawless and Rob Power of Fianna Fail, Anne Breen and Fergus Carpenter of Labour, Sinn Fein's Sorcha O'Neill, Martin Byrne of Direct Democracy and Independant Seamie Moore.

All in all, it seems to have been a good exercise at least for the community, and it was testament to the content of the evening and the deft chairmanship of Maurice O'Mahony that nobody lost interest.

There'll be a full report later.

It's all about communication

There is a unique event in Kilcullen this evening, to which everybody with a stake in the future of the town should go, writes Brian Byrne.

Almost all of the 16 candidates for the nine council seats in the Naas area — to which Kilcullen now belongs — have accepted an invitation to a Town Meeting hosted by KCA.

It is unique, because it is Kilcullen being pro-active about sussing out the plans and personalities of the candidates seeking the positions from where the successful ones will be making decisions on many aspects of Kilcullen life over the next five years.

It is Kilcullen people not waiting to be canvassed for two minutes on our individual doorsteps. It's a very important opportunity, and if we as a community don't grasp it, then we have no business complaining about councillors and Council activities that bear on our lives and businesses for the life of the next Council.

I'll be blunt. I never expected that so many of the candidates would accept the invitation. I thought the party ones would hide behind the 'electoral strategy' gambit and maybe just send the one in their number concentrating on the Kilcullen area. I thought the established councillors amongst them might feel Kilcullen had a nerve in asking them to come before the community. I thought we'd be lucky to have maybe four or five, if for no other reason than requesting them to give up one night of their canvas with just a week to go is a big ask.

So I salute in advance the candidates for making themselves available to Kilcullen tonight. As a group they are extending us a significant courtesy. And I make a plea for Kilcullen as a community to respond to that.

It's a plea to every individual in the town who might read this. Whatever other plans you had for tonight, drop them and come to the Town Hall at 8pm. Show that you also have the courtesy, and the commitment to Kilcullen, to be prepared to spend just a couple of hours in a one-off with the candidates who want you, and me, and the rest of us, to make them decision makers on our behalf.

Kilcullen has a lot going for it. Always had. But no less than any other community we also have issues. Infrastructural development, street-cleaning, roads maintenance. Business support, social and leisure facilities. Community services over which the Council has mandates. Allocation of financial resources which are never enough to satisfy all needs.

We can complain of 'faceless politicians'. Tonight is the chance to see the faces from which we will elect the local politicians who will serve us for the next five years. Tonight is your chance to ask them how they plan to represent the needs of our community in that time. Tonight is the chance to show them that we mean business, and find out what they mean.

Very few communities will have had such a chance as we have tonight. Don't waste it. Please come out and get to know, even a little bit, those who will be our next local representatives. Give them a chance to get to know you too.

Communication is a two-way street. Communication is the Town Hall, 8pm tonight. Be there.

Eleven of 16 local candidates have accepted Town Meeting invite

Jacinta O'Sullivan of Fine Gael and Martin Byrne of Direct Democracy are the latest election candidates to have accepted invitations to attend a special Town Meeting in Kilcullen on Thursday night next, writes Brian Byrne.

The event, which begins at 8pm in the Town Hall, is an opportunity for Kilcullen voters to meet most of their potential councillors directly and to quiz them about their proposed policies and actions in relation to Kilcullen issues.

Earlier acceptances came from James Lawless (FF), Willie Callaghan (FF), Rob Power (FF), Anne Breen (Lab), Fergus Carpenter (Lab), Seamie Moore (Ind), Billy Hillis (FG), Darren Scully (FG) and Sorcha O'Neill (SF). It now means that 11 of the 16 candidates in the Naas Electoral Area are coming to Kilcullen.

The meeting is unique in that the community is being pro-active in getting the candidates in one place to lay out their stalls, so to speak. And the timing, with exactly a week before polling day, means that any issues raised and policies offered will be 'hot' for candidates and electorate alike.

Suggested topics include facilities for children and seniors, upkeep of roads and other essential local infrastructures, water services and related matters, but there's scope to raise anything else of a local nature for which a councillor will have responsibility.

The event is being hosted by Kilcullen Community Action, and will be chaired by Maurice O'Mahony. The organisers have done their bit — now it's up to all voting residents of Kilcullen to show the candidates that they care enough about their community to come out on the night and actively participate in the process.

For sure, it will be a much more effective place to argue the issues and the personalities than can be done on a a short two minutes on the doorstep where neither side wants to delay too long.

Meet the Candidate: Martin Byrne, Direct Democracy

If there's a David tackling multiple Goliaths in the Naas Area local elections, it's Martin Byrne, writes Brian Byrne. His budget is €800, he doesn't have a large party machine behind him. He's a baby in political terms. And he's campaigning while making a living working on IT contracts from his home and minding his daughter half of the week.

The odds are stacked high against him. But you have to admire his guts. And hope that the experience doesn't blunt his idealism. We always need idealists.

Originally from Baltinglass, Martin has travelled. After stints as a barman and gardener in Ireland, he worked in Germany for a while. From there he went to Greece, crossing the former Yugoslavia during the war there. He saw stuff that still upsets him today, especially when the current situation in Ukraine comes on our TV screens. But that's not what he came to talk to me about.

After his travels he went to college, got a place in NCAD and qualified in graphic design. He was employed in that area until 2005, when companies began outsourcing their design work. Now he works for himself across the internet, on freelance IT contracts as far away as Canada. Local politics happened gradually. He did some work for Sinn Fein when he lived in Dublin. Came down to Naas two years ago with his girlfriend. Now, though, he's a single father, sharing the work of rearing their little girl.

He voted Labour in the last general election, but has since become frustrated with the Government ("they've gone back on everything"). He was talking to another candidate, who suggested that councillors shouldn't really give too much of the power back to the people who elected them. They might not make the 'right' decisions'.

"It was the way he said it, made me feel there's this class of people who consider themselves to be the ones who should make the decisions. That it's their own opinions that really matter. That day I decided to see if I could get a nomination from Direct Democracy Ireland."

Martin had come across DDI on the internet. He was impressed by the movement's Ben Gilroy. "He seemed like somebody who was fighting back, standing up for the people with no interest in anything for himself." He got the nomination to run for Kildare at a small meeting in Sallins last September. Since then he's been wearing out shoe leather on the doorsteps. On his own, mostly. "There are a couple of friends involved, but one is ill, the other has a small business to look after. DDI in Dublin handles the online, organises the leaflets and posters."

He has to pay for the campaign materials himself. He could only afford 6,000 leaflets ("so I have to be careful how I distribute them. I was able to put two posters in Kilcullen"). On the doorsteps, if there's somebody at home, he gets about a minute on average. "They don't know about Direct Democracy. On four RTE political programmes recently, we had candidates in the audience, but they got a total of about 40 seconds exposure."

The biggest issue he hears about is water charges. So he brings with him a DDI campaign petition which hopes to raise enough signatures to seek a national referendum on the whole water charges thing. There's also the matter of hardship. "We need a food bank in Naas. I've had three different people knocking on my door looking for food for their children. These were ordinary people, red-faced because they have to ask strangers. People shouldn't be going hungry here in this day and age."

Direct Democracy candidates work on the principle that they don't represent a party with particular policies. "Our policies are what people tell us are the issues that directly affect them locally. Those are what we will represent them on. If I'm elected, my job will be to make sure that people will be kept informed about any decisions coming up which will affect them. I'll take their feedback, and vote in terms of the majority of those who provide that feedback."

Maybe the whole DDI thing seems too loosely based. Ephemeral, even? Idealistic but impractical? After all, people will always push their self interest rather than the common good? Martin Byrne points to Switzerland, where in individual cantons people have been known to vote for higher local taxes because that's the right thing to do, even if personally painful.

DDI is small, set up back in the latter half of 2012. "But we're growing pretty quick. We have 19 candidates, for local authorities and Europe." And who'll vote for him and his fellow candidates? "People who are disaffected by the current system, which is too easily manipulated by the political interests. You don't join DDI to further policies, or for financial gain. We believe we have a system that works for the people, and that is at odds with the main political system."

In the end, it will come down to whether people going about their everyday business and struggles will be interested enough to back something that would require a lot of research, and subsequent direct involvement.

So far, in Martin Byrne's case — and presumably his fellow candidates around the country are facing the same things — the Goliaths have the arena. Where DDI goes in these elections might well hinge on whether there's still enough grá for the underdog. Still, the biblical David did defeat the Philistine enemy, and went on to become King of Israel.

Good response to Town Meeting invite

There has been a strong positive initial response to an invitation to local election candidates to participate in a Town Meeting in Kilcullen next week, writes Brian Byrne.

Confirmations of attendance have come from James Lawless (FF), Willie Callaghan (FF), Rob Power (FF), Anne Breen (Lab), Fergus Carpenter (Lab), Seamie Moore (Ind), Billy Hillis (FG), Darren Scully (FG) and Sorcha O'Neill (SF).

The meeting is an opportunity for local people to find out how each candidate will deal with Kilcullen issues if elected. Scheduled for the evening of Thursday 15 May, the event is organised by Kilcullen Community Action and will be chaired by Maurice O'Mahony.

Candidates invited to pre-election Town Hall Meeting

All candidates in the Naas Local Electoral Area have been invited to a Town Meeting in Kilcullen to explain how they will deal with Kilcullen issues if elected to Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne.

The meeting is being held in the Town Hall on Thursday 15 May and is being organised by Kilcullen Community Action. It begins at 8pm.

The event will be chaired by Maurice O'Mahony, and offers a unique opportunity both to members of the community who can raise questions about their concerns and to the would-be councillors who will have a chance to interact directly with Kilcullen a week before the election.

The invitations were sent out at the weekend, so there's no indication yet who amongst the candidates will attend, but we'll keep you informed over the coming nine days.

Election biography: Martin Byrne, Direct Democracy

This material was provided by the candidate.

I decided to join Direct Democracy after witnessing the unending parade of unfair taxes, charges and cut backs by government parties which no longer listen or represent the interests of the people of Ireland. I realized that, if things were going to change, the people had to be able to have a real say in the running of the county.

By giving the people real control of their county councillors through Direct Democracy the people can, bit by bit, take back control of our county and then our country.

Unlike councillors from other political parties, who make all the decisions for you without ever consulting you until the next election comes around, a Direct Democracy councillor would be the only member of a county council who would vote on council proposals based solely on the expressed requirements of the majority of the people of the Naas Municipal area.

As a Direct Democracy councillor it would be my job to notify the people of every future plan the council has that would affect the people of the Naas Municipal area. The people would then have direct access to me as a council member through online forums, telephone or letter, for the full term of my councillorship to propose whatever issue the community think needs to be addressed or what position the direct democracy council member should take on a particular subject. I would adhere to the majority will of the people on every issue, giving the citizen a real voice for the first time ever in the running in our local government.

Direct Democracy councillors are also the only representatives that will adhere to political re-call giving the public the power to remove any Direct Democracy councillor, TD or MEP who fails to live up to their promises.

Facebook.com/MartinByrneDDI. Phone: 0877649902. martin@martinbyrne.co. twitter: Martin ‏@martinbyrne1968

Sixteen nominated for Naas LEA

At the close of nominations today, the following have been nominated to contest the upcoming local elections in the Local Electoral Area of Naas.

Ger Dunne, Monread Heights, Naas (Labour); Anne Breen, The Paddocks, Naas (Labour); Fergus Carpenter, Sallins (Labour); Darren Scully, Kerdiff Park, Naas (Fine Gael); Jacinta O'Sullivan, Craddockstown Road, Naas (Fine Gael); Fintan Brett, Johnstown Gardens, Naas (Fine Gael); Billy Hillis, Brannockstown, (Fine Gael); Seamie Moore, Ashfield Park (Non-Party), Naas; Francis O'Rourke, Eadestown (Non-Party); Martin Byrne, Morell Manor, Naas (Direct Democracy); Sorcha O'Neill, Esmondale, Naas (Sinn Fein); Robert Power, Osprey, Naas (Fianna Fail); Willie Callaghan, Esmondale, Naas (Fianna Fail); James Lawless, Sallins (Fianna Fail); Paddy Horan, Ballymore Eustace (Non-Party); and Cathal Spelman, Mullacash, Naas (Non-Party.

The candidates have until 12 noon on Tuesday 6 May to withdraw their nomination.

(Please note that this story has been corrected to make Martin Byrne a candidate for Direct Democracy rather than Sinn Fein. Apologies for confusion, due to layout issues on official information received.)

Election Biography: Sorcha O'Neill, Sinn Féin

This material is supplied by the candidate.

I am a very new addition to the election race, writes Sorcha O'Neill, the Sinn Fein candidate in the Naas Municipal Area for the elections to Kildare County Council. I am standing for the Kildare Local elections for Naas, Sallins, Bodenstown, Ballymore Eustace, Killashee, Killcullen, and Caragh areas.

I got into politics having been a voluntary citizen member and steering group member of the Constitutional Convention since 2012. This convention opened my eyes to the rights and power we as ordinary people have. It was an educational and enlightening experience where I had the opportunity to spend time with politicians from all parties.

I came to notice that Sinn Féin representatives always contributed to the process in making sure that each topic was approached in an inclusive and fair way, where others were quiet or interested in sound bites. I also came to realize that each of the outcomes and recommendations that the citizens and polictians had voted on were things that Sinn Féin had already been asking for years to be introduced. I was impressed in the level of detail and effort that their representatives in each topic that I did not see from other candidates.

What really drew me into the party was when I attended the Ard Fheis as a guest and I saw all the women involved, young and old, as candidates, policy makers, researchers etc. It was like a home from home. They were welcoming, inclusive and energized. I knew then this was the party for me. Sinn Féin has over 30 percent of female candidates running this year and no other party comes close. I am delighted to say that three of the seven candidates running in the Kildare local elections are female.

I intend to use my experience as a small national business to help others. Everyday I see businesses closing down and nothing is done to help them. As a business teacher for the ETB I will offer my experience and advice freely to anyone that needs it. If elected, my focus will be on job creation by supporting local businesses and upcoming projects as well as fighting for those who have been most hurt by austerity measures. I will be lobbying for Sinn Féin's policy of a fairer model of commercial rates for businesses.

I will of course be lobbying the lowest water rates possible and will continue to lobby for the abolishment of them entirely.

People seem to be surprised to see a business person running for Sinn Féin and I have gotten a few curious looks. I think there is a common misconception about Sinn Féin that if they got into power that there would be a risk to business and free enterprise or our policies might hurt our economy. When in fact the opposite is true. Sinn Féin has produced a comprehensive policy to assist SMEs and support up and start ups. Thus creating jobs and stimulating the local economy. We also have several initiatives to boost community work and services.

In addition, I would like to extend an invitation to anyone in the area interested in a cupla focail circle. Please get in touch as I hope to start an informal Irish Circle.

I look forward to opportunity to serve this community at our clinics. It's time to build a fairer Ireland.

For more information please visit www.sorchaoneill.ie or email sorchaoneillsf@gmail.com. Phone: 085 2000 600.

A Sinn Féin clinic will be held in the Hideout on Saturday 10th May at 3pm. All welcome/ Gach failte Roimh.

'Don't split Kilcullen vote'

Re comments by Orla O'Neill, I wonder if I am missing something? writes Dave Prendergast. Is Billy Hillis not our local candidate?

Surely he should be supported rather than seeking another candidate, which would then split the Kilcullen vote and thereby guarantee that Kilcullen would not have a councillor.

Meet the Candidate: James Lawless FF

Meeting James Lawless for the first time is a concentrated experience, writes Brian Byrne. He speaks quickly, and you get the sense of a man in a hurry to get places, and to get things said and done. But he listens too.

He's been doing a lot of that since he was first appointed a Fianna Fáil Local Area Representative two years ago. That's a title without power, but the Sallins man originally from north Wexford has been making the most of it to set himself up for this local political challenge.

"I decided from the beginning that I wasn't going to be the kind of person who just turns up at election time," he says. "I've really been canvassing for the last two years, knocking on doors in Sallins, Naas and Kill. Most people said it was good to see someone coming around, and it gives you an understanding of the issues in advance. You get several different viewpoints."

James says he has always been a 'doer', reckons it comes from his parents, who 'were always involved in things'. "My mother in particular was with the Parents Council, the Parish Council, the whole lot, so I grew up in that kind of ethos."

It wasn't a particularly political one, though James remembers his grandfather who was of staunch republican beliefs. "He passed away when I was a teenager, but I grew up with the stories, and the patriotism. I remember them as great stories, maybe because I always loved history."

When he went to TCD, his inclination to 'get stuck in' prompted involvement in the Students Union. And with politics, in particular Fianna Fáil. "It just seemed that the people who were doing things there were Fianna Fáil, so I formally joined the cumann eventually."

Qualifying, then a job, and a move to Sallins to set up home and family ('we found a train station with new houses nearby'). He took a step back from politics, but in a new estate there were the usual issues and it didn't take long for James to get stuck in again. "Some people sit on bar stools or in armchairs and complain. I've always been inclined to jump up from the chair and put my hand up." So he set up a residents committee, and one thing led to another. "I worked a lot with Fianna Fáil's Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick, but trying to get things sorted in my estate was a cross-party effort. We worked with any councillor who might be able to help, any party and no party."

It proved a frustrating process, and more than a decade later his estate is still trying to get Kildare County Council to take it in charge. "We're making progress, but slowly. This was one of the reasons I was prompted to go for a position where I can do things directly. It can be the case that in trying to get something done, you're beating at the door, and often the door is closed. I want to get through that door."

The process reconnected him with Fianna Fáil and he joined the local cumann and took officer and board positions. The collapse in the fortunes of the party he sees as an opportunity to rebuild. "A huge political price has been paid, but there's now the chance to recast the party to what it should be and could be. It's stepping up to the plate, not so much to restore what was there, but to create new ideas."

His political activity is all very time-hungry, especially for somebody with a full-time job. James's previous interests in hurling and fishing have been relegated by what he sees as a different 'hobby that has become my work'. He's not complaining, says it's just a reality that there are only so many hours in the day. "I do enjoy it, going to meetings, having a chat at the gates on issues, trying to follow them up and come back with a result. It's very satisfying."

His professional lawyer background can be useful in helping him see a bigger picture from all those chats. Patterns can emerge which are possibly best dealt with at national or Dail level. "Problem solving and spotting anomalies are part of what I do for a living. I can bring things to the attention of whoever needs to know, and it can be very rewarding to get the opportunity to help change the way things are done."

But this coming election is local, and does he think he has a good chance to make it onto Kildare County Council along with his electoral running mates Rob Power and sitting councillor Willie Callaghan? "It takes a lot of work to get elected, and it's a big area with around 40,000 people. But I've put in plenty of spadework, and a lot of people are saying that even though I'm new as a candidate, they already know me. We'll see."

If he makes it, it will be a learning experience for him as a new councillor. But it will also be so for everybody involved, experienced local representatives, officals and the newbies all together. The new Council system is a change that on a personal level he believes will rebalance the area at representational level. "Naas Town Council is being abolished, and I know some people will miss that. But I'm of the view that there were all sorts of anomalies created when you had two councils in the same area."

The issues for the next six weeks — he has taken the time off work to devote himself fully to the campaign — are a varied mix, but similar to what he has involved himself with for the past two years. The taking in charge of estates, small communities losing garda stations and, potentially, post offices. Supporting small businesses in towns and villages. Broadband, 'the water service of the 21st century'. And more.

The biggest issue just now, though, is to do his utmost to convince the people on the doorsteps to take a flyer on someone who can be cast as representing a new future in political representation. He's game for it. "It's a bit like the All-Ireland season just now," he muses as I take his picture for this piece. Then he's gone, a young man in a hurry to get things done.

'Keep looking and asking' for local candidate

The theme that Kilcullen will need its own councillor in the new Naas Municipal District was again raised by Orla O'Neill in the latest of her 'Election Watch' series in The Bridge Magazine, writes Brian Byrne.

Outlining the reasons why 'Kilcullen needs a voice', she underpins her argument with how it was difficult to get a copy of the upcoming Draft Kilcullen Local Area Plan in advance of a Kildare County Council meeting which voted to publish it in May.

She notes that there had been no response to the 'Election Watch' series from councillors or candidate councillors (though there is one in this issue from FF candidate Rob Power, which she wouldn't have known about in advance), and feels that getting one from local TD Martin Heydon (FG) was 'bizarre' and proved her point that someone from the town needs to stand for the Council.

"There are lots of articulate, passionate people involved in community and sporting activities who know the issues of the town," she concludes. "We need to keep looking and asking."

(Nominations close on Saturday 3 May at 12 noon.)

Sinn Fein announces candidate

Sinn Fein is running a candidate in the Naas area in the coming local election.

Sorcha O'Neill is new to the party. She served on the Constitutional Convention which recently made recommendations on aspects of the Constitution.

Sinn Fein is running six candidates in total in County Kildare.

Election biography: Jacinta O'Sullivan

I would like to introduce myself as one of the few female candidates
running in the upcoming Local Elections. My name is Jacinta O'Sullivan and I have been selected to run for Fine Gael in the Local Elections for the Naas and surrounding Electoral Area. Taking in Naas including areas of Kilcullen, Ballymore Eustace, Two Mile House, Caragh, Kill and Johnstown.

I live in Naas and work as an Office Supervisor in Enfer Labs. If elected I will endeavour to work hard on all local issues in Naas and the surrounding areas in the district as a whole. I have gained a wealth of experience dealing with constituent queries through my work in Anthony Lawlor TD's constituency office in Naas town. I am also very involved with Special Olympics being one of the founders of the Naas Special Olympics club serving many areas in Kildare and

I act as public relations officer for a Kildare organisation promoting suicide awareness and prevention. I am running for election because I want to enhance local government and to maintain, and improve on, services available in the Naas and surrounding areas. I have a strong commitment to my local area as proven through my voluntary work. If elected my objectives are

* To represent and assist the electorate of Naas and surrounding areas to the best of my ability in their dealings with local government;
* To promote and adopt policies that are in your best interests;
* To ensure the efficient use of resources available.

We have a great Fine Gael Team and my running mates are Billy Hillis, Fintan Brett, and Darren Scully.

This material was provided by the candidate.

Meet the Candidate: Darren Scully FG

In seven weeks' time, Darren Scully will almost be a shadow of his former self, writes Brian Byrne. Quite literally.

"I'll lose up to a stone and a half on the campaign," the Fine Gael candidate working to be re-elected to Kildare County Council says. It's a shoe-leather thing, walking the estates and giving the electorate a chance to actually talk to a councillor or a candidate to be one. "I've always said that politics is a contact sport. The only way to get people to support you is to meet them face to face. Look them in the eye and tell them what you're about.

"You can have all the internet campaigns you like, all the posters — which I think are a total waste of time anyhow — and all the leaflet drops, but this is the only way. Or have people who know me recommend me to their friends."

Darren Scully does have a Kilcullen connection. He went to school at CPC, which seems to be a College that turns out local and national politicians while not having any political ethos itself. But he has no political background, and says he originally got involved out of frustration. "I saw a lot of politicians who were themselves turning into civil servants. I have beliefs and ideologies, and I wanted to make a difference in my area, in my county. And I felt that I could do a much better job than people who were in politics at the time."

Doing it better can mean different things, but in Darren Scully's case it was sometimes being more vocal than some. Getting stuck in to lobbying officials to get things done for his area. Doing the best he could to push through 'a hundred reasons to say no rather than one reason to say yes' attitudes. "One of the things I found out about the public service when I was first elected was that if we had the same kind of systems in the private sector, we'd go broke very quickly."

He doesn't sit on the fence, believing that a politician who is all things to all men is 'about as useful as a chocolate fireguard'. "You can't achieve anything if you're trying to appease somebody, because life isn't like that. I know there are people who can't stand the sight of me and my opinions, but that's fine, that's politics. I never was after all the votes, I have my views and my opinions about the way things should be done."

He's ten years in the political business now, operating alongside his day job as a surveyor in the insurance industry for most of that time, and most recently while running his own business. "I've always said I'm not a career politician, and I never will be. But I'll keep on doing it while I'm enjoying it. You have to, in the pit of your stomach, really want to be doing this when people are ringing you up late at night and at weekends, but there's no better feeling in the world for me personally when you meet somebody who has a problem and you can help them."

Since first elected to Naas Town Council in 2004, and to Kildare County Council in 2009, Darren Scully has experienced the differences between working with small and large local authorities. He admits that the Town Council was nicer, probably because it was smaller and easier to get things done. But the new system of the Municipal Area is going to be an even bigger change.

"I don't think many people realise it yet, but the working week for the councillor is going to be much more intensive. There will be more coming down the track to deal with. Councillors are getting more powers, including a direct say in the budgets and the right to vote against candidates for the new position of chief executive that will replace the county manager system. But with those extra powers comes more responsibility."

The responsibility of the new chief executive changes too. Instead of the manager being accountable to the Department of the Environment, the CE will be accountable to the Council, effectively the 'board' of the county. "Along with bringing the work of the former County Enterprise Boards directly into the Council, working out of Arus Chill Dara, I think the citizens of the county are going to see better customer service, questions and answers will all travel through the same channel."

Darren Scully acknowledges that there's a very strong cynicism about politics out there, and he understands the reasons why that might be so. But after a decade on the inside, he's still positive about it. "I think most people in politics are in it for the right reasons, their hearts are in the right place, they want to serve their community and help out, and they want to make a difference.

"And for those who complain about it when you knock on their doors, I believe that democracy is the best system we have. Unless you want what's happening in the Ukraine, or communism or dictatorship, it's the best we've got. And the people have the ultimate power to change things through the ballot box."

Kilcullen being moved back to the new Naas Municipal Area, he firmly believes will be good for the town. "I never saw the reason in Kilcullen and Ballymore being lost to the Athy area, it makes more sense both geographically and economically to have them part of Naas. I think it is going to benefit Kilcullen greatly in being back. Even purely on a population basis, where the revenue stream from the property tax is going to be much greater."

That's another area where the local government reforms are going to have an impact. With some 85 percent of the tax being ring-fenced from 2016 to go back to the area it was collected, and constitute a significant portion of a Council's budget, councillors are going to have to be very professional about managing the 'enterprise' that the county is.

"I do think that the new system will give more equality of representation. I think it's going to encourage better use of taxpayers' money. It's going to take time to bed in, but I think that whoever is elected, if they drive on hard and push it, hold officials to account, it should benefit everybody."

Kilcullen voters who want to put Darren Scully in their lists won't really get the chance to meet him directly. As part of the strategy he and his three fellow FG candidates are operating, he'll leave the Kilcullen canvassing to Billy Hillis, who is better known in the area. "It's all about our team, not about the individuals, and I think we have the geographically best placed team to maximise our return."

But if you really want to look him in the eye and ask him what he stands for, you could catch him most Saturday mid-mornings when he comes to Nolans in Kilcullen for his meat.

Guess it was hard to break all his associations with the town when he graduated from CPC ...

Water rules cripple taking in charge

A glitch in the legislation to establish Irish Water means that housing estates waiting to be taken in charge by local authorities will have to wait much longer, according to a Fianna Fail candidate in the Naas Municipal Area, writes Brian Byrne.

James Lawless says that Kildare County Council and Naas Town Council have both told him they will not be proceeding with any more taking in charge of estates until the problem is sorted. It affects a number of estates in Kilcullen, including Cnoc na Greine and Hillcrest.

What has happened is that the Irish Water legislation makes that new authority responsible for all watercourses, drainage and sewer systems, including those in estates. But the Planning Acts require that when a local authority takes an estate in charge, it includes the water and sewerage infrastructure. However, now there's a 'lock' fixed on those, making it technically impossible for authorities like Kildare County Council to take over estates.

James Lawless has asked Fianna Fáil Environment spokesman Barry Cowen TD to raise this in the Dáil. The local candidate says it is a 'presumably unintended' consequence of legislation that wasn't fully thought through.

According to information provided in late 2012, local estates waiting to be taken in charge by KCC included Curragh Close, Castlemartin Manor, Cnoc Na Greine, Cnoc Na Greine Woods, Riverside Manor, Hill Crest and Lui Na Greine. In addition in Brannockstown the following were awaiting taking in charge — Ashleigh Wood, Moorhill Wood and Flemington South.

As far as James Lawless knows, only Lui na Greine has been taken in charge since then.

Billy Hillis campaign launch

Billy Hillis (second from right) with Alan Dukes, Fintan Brett and Jacinta O'Sullivan (candidates), and  Deputies Martin Heydon and Tony Lawlor.

To get the kind of ringing endorsements from a former Leader of the Fine Gael party and two of its sitting TDs that Billy Hillis received last night could go to any election candidate's head, writes Brian Byrne.

But Billy Hillis isn't that way, and that was the underscoring made by Alan Dukes as he launched Billy's campaign in The Stray Inn in Mile Mill. Describing his work as a councillor over three terms as 'exemplary', he noted Billy's respect for everybody's personality and opinion, 'whether they're Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein, Independents ... or something even worse than all those put together'.

"He has a straightforward dedication to everything that he does," the former FG Leader continued. "And that was shown even when he was seriously ill, he never missed a Council meeting. He was known on occasion to leave a meeting, go for his chemo treatment, and then come back to the meeting. That was one measure of his dedication."

He noted that the candidate 'never goes in for hyperbole', or the kind of inflated 'Armageddon' language too often observed in national politics. "Billy's approach is what we need in politics today, people prepared to look at the facts, examine the pros and cons, and then deal with the situation accordingly. Given the new responsibilities which councillors will have, I think that's more important than ever."

He concluded by emphasising that support for all four of the party's candidates in the Naas Area be sought in the canvassing. "That's the best chance we have of getting them in."

Deputy Martin Heydon of Kildare South said the areas around Kilcullen, Brannockstown, Two Mile House and Ballymore are 'absolutely crucial' in this election. "With the upgrading of the councils to have municipal powers, it is extremely important that candidates like Billy Hillis and his colleagues be returned to Kildare County Council to make the most of the new responsibilities."

As the Naas area straddles two Dail constituencies, Deputy Tony Lawlor was also there to support the candidate's launch. Noting that it was Billy who persuaded him to run for the Council in 2009 when the electoral area was changed, he said he would not be there last night as a TD for Kildare North otherwise. He promised the full availability of his constituency office to support the campaign of all four FG candidates in the municipal area.

For himself, Billy Hillis says he's running again partly because he just loves local politics, but also because he believes the Kilcullen/Ballymore sections of the electoral area must have a representative who lives in their locality. While new residents have changed the demographic of the area since he was last elected, he's confident that his traditional method of 'quietly meeting with everyone' will work to his advantage.

As for the new Council, he notes that the authority will now be responsible for raising most of its own funding, and thus will need to have members 'with backbone'. "When the responsibility is given back to the councillors, then they'll have to take responsibility for it. It's not going to be easy, and it's not going to be like when I was last in the Council Chair and members left meetings when awkward decisions had to be made, later claiming they wouldn't have voted for what went through."

He concluded by recounting what a 'wag' said to him after the party convention which appointed him to this campaign. "He said, 'you can't have done too much wrong while you were a councillor, because it took two TDs to replace you'."

Like all witticisms, it's the kernel of truth in them that makes them work.

James Lawless campaign launch

More than a hint was given at the launch of Fianna Fail local election candidate James Lawless's campaign that his party views him as going further than Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne.

Over a hundred supporters who attended the event in Naas GAA Centre heard party finance spokesman Michael McGrath TD say that 'it would be a pleasure to work with him in Dáil Éireann at some stage in the future'.

Deputy McGrath described James Lawless as someone who has 'worked hard' as a community and political activist in the Naas area for many years. "He's an example of the future generation of public representatives coming through in this country, and will make an excellent addition to Kildare County Council."

At the event, the candidate outlined a wide range of issues on which he has worked over the past few years. These include commuter problems, taking-in-charge issues, involvement in local crime prevention initiatives, and setting up new business associations.

"If elected to the council I can continue my hard work, but with much greater capacity and determination," Lawless says. "It would be an honour to be elected on May 23rd and I would like to thank everyone for the huge support I've received so far."

This report is based on PR material provided by the candidate. We are arranging interviews with candidates between now and the election to establish their proposed connections and policies with Kilcullen matters.