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.

Power pushes campaign on Facebook

It seems that there are around 1,400 people over the age of 18 in Kilcullen who are regular Facebook users, writes Brian Byrne.

That's according to FF candidate in the upcoming local elections in the Naas Area Rob Power, who gave us the information today while taking part in the fundraising 5K Fun Run organised by Grainne McGrath in aid of Halverstown NS and St Anne's School on The Curragh.

We mention it because local Facebook users will probably have noticed the candidate's 'sponsored post' coming through their News Feed relating to the state of Kilcullen Main Street (with a cheekily 'lifted' photograph of your editor's from a post about the same issue on the Kilcullen Diary a while ago).

"Facebook is a great tool," Power told us today. "They were able to tell me how many users there are here, and it's a great way of getting the message across."

It just underlines that this might well be a local election unlike any that has gone before. Social media, including this blog, is coming of electoral age in Ireland. Remember, Barak Obama got elected in no small measure because of his use of the internet. We should watch this space.

By the way, you might not recognise Power from the photo above. He has dropped the moustache and smig which feature on the photo on his blog. "My grandmother insisted," he told us today.

Grandmother knows best. She does.

Candidate Rob Power on Kilcullen potholes

Several residents have raised the issue of potholes on main street of Kilcullen recently, writes Rob Power, FF candidate in the Naas Area. The condition of the road is especially bad on the route from the town to the school.

As Kilcullen continues to sit within the Athy district until after the local elections in May, I have asked my colleague Cllr Martin Miley to raise this issue at the next meeting of Athy area councillors. The following motion has been submitted at my request:

“In light of the deterioration of the Main Street into Kilcullen, that the council would move to tar it immediately.”

I am hopeful that the council will give this matter the attention it deserves and move to treat the road as soon as possible. I will be in touch with Cllr Miley in relation to any developments and I look forward to updating residents on this issue after that.

This post was provided by the candidate.

James Lawless FF, concerns about community security

James Lawless, a resident of Sallins, is one of three Fianna Fáil candidates for the Naas electoral area. As a Local Area Representative for the party he has worked with the people of Naas town and the wider Naas area which encompasses Sallins, Kill, Johnstown, Caragh, Kilteel, Eadestown, Two Mile House, Kilcullen and Ballymore Eustace.

Originally from County Wexford, he lived in Dublin before moving to Kildare. He studied Maths and Finance at Trinity (BA, MSc) and worked in IT before more recently training as a Barrister (BL). He has campaigned for more community policing and has helped communities including Kill, Kilteel and Ballymore Eustace deal with the aftermath of Garda station closures by setting up alert systems. He campaigned within Sallins for more facilities and the much needed bypass. Within Naas town he will advocate for a revitalization of the town centre and has proposals to address parking issues, rates and other current difficulties. He has been very active in campaigning for unfinished estates to be taken in charge and has successfully progressed this recently for a number of local estates. As a daily commuter himself, James is also a long standing campaigner for the Naas and Sallins Rail Users Group and has worked to improve the conditions.

James has been active politically since university and is a member of Sallins Cumann and secretary of Naas Area Fianna Fáil. He was elected a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive at the 2013 Ard Fheis. In his spare time he enjoys jogging, socialising or exploring the great outdoors with his children and their dogs. He is a keen follower of Gaelic games and is PRO of Sallins GAA club.

This information is taken from the James Lawless website. We will be talking to James Lawless and all other candidates over the coming months to establish their views on the issues in Kilcullen.

Election campaign launches

Naas FF local election candidate James Lawless is getting an early kick-off to his official campaign with an event in Naas GAA Club on Tuesday 25 March.

The launch starts at 8.30pm, and the guest speaker will be Michael McGrath TD, opposition finance spokesman.

Of course, both Lawless and his FF colleague Rob Power have already made their presence felt here in the Kilcullen area during some advance canvassing.

Meanwhile, Billy Hillis for FG will be doing his launch the following week, on 3 April. His gig is closer to Kilcullen, in the Stray Inn in Mile Mill, with a start scheduled for 8pm.

Things are beginning ...

Rob Power, from a tradition in politics

Robert Power is one of the three Fianna Fail candidates in the Naas Area for the local elections in May, along with James Lawless and Cllr Willie Callaghan.

He is a 25 year old Naas area native, having grown up in Caragh and attended Naas CBS. He qualified from Dublin City University three years ago, and since then has been working in online marketing for Paddy Power.

Robert became interested in politics at a young age with his father Seán and grandfather Paddy having served over 40 years between them in Dáil Éireann. Since 2011, Robert has been actively involved in party reform and public policy debates. Most recently, he has joined the Fianna Fáil Enterprise committee led by Dara Calleary.

His particular interests are youth employment, the 'brain drain' of young people via emigration, and the tough job market for newly qualified graduates.

This information is taken from the Kildare Fianna Fail website. We will be talking to Rob Power and all other candidates over the coming months to establish their views on the issues in Kilcullen.

Billy Hillis, the Comeback Kid?

When Billy Hillis lost his Council seat in 2009, it seemed the end to a long Fine Gael local representative career where by general agreement he had served his community well, writes Brian Byrne.

He had fallen foul of a boundary change which switched Ballymore and some of the Kilcullen part of his voter base to the Athy Electoral Area. He had the choice of running either in Naas or Athy, and chose the latter, a new 4-seater. His run ended when the seats were filled by Mark Wall (Labour), Martin Miley Jr (FF), Martin Heydon (FG) and Richard Daly (FG), the latter kicked home without making the quota by a very good transfer of Billy's votes.

In choosing the Athy area, he had also enabled Anthony Lawlor to take a Naas Area Council seat for FG. When both Martin Heydon and Anthony Lawlor were elected to the Dail, in 2011, Ivan Keatley and Fintan Brett were co-opted to the Council in the respective areas.

At a Council level Billy Hillis has been Mayor of Kildare, and was a member of many key committees over his career. He was some years ago commended by former Fine Gael Leader Alan Dukes for his 'business and efficiency mentality' and his 'ability to get results'.

With his traditional base now back in place, he's running with current Naas Town Councillor Darren Scully, Cllr Fintan Brett and Jacinta O'Sullivan on the FG ticket for the Naas area.

Darren Scully has a strong base in Naas, and did very well as an FG candidate in Kildare North in the 2007 General Election. Many expect he will top the poll in May. Fintan Brett can gain well from the Anthony Lawlor machine in his own Johnstown area, and Jacinta O'Sullivan also has a strong Naas base and a high profile in voluntary work.

Billy Hillis will be very much depending on his traditional strongholds of Ballymore Eustace and fully reconstituted Kilcullen. But Kilcullen's population size and mix has changed significantly since he was last a councillor in the area, and he'll have to fight hard to gain recognition in some parts. Five years absence is a long time in local politics, and there are newcomers in the fray already making serious attempts to secure the Kilcullen vote.

Still, anyone who knows him also knows that he's a fighter, especially if it's against the odds. Not just in politics, as he successfully beat serious illness while still a Councillor, at the time never letting it interfere with his Council and community duties.

This is by way of being a scene-setter, and we'll be doing something similar about each candidate in the area. We will also be talking directly to the candidates over the coming weeks and months to try and tease out how they intend to deal with Kilcullen issues if elected.

On the campaign trail ... 40 years ago

Just for a laugh before things get serious, it seems an appropriate time to revisit my own personal local elections foray four decades ago, writes Brian Byrne.

I ran as a Fine Gael candidate, but very early on in the campaign it was clear that I wasn't getting a lot of support from my more experienced fellow party candidates in the area. Understandably, they were more interested in picking up transfers from this first-timer than helping me to perhaps take their own seats.

I ended up running a very personal campaign, canvassing primarily in the greater Kilcullen area where I had a better chance of picking up enough first preferences to kick-start the numbers.

I have some interesting memories, and some funny stories from that period. In the end, though, I was narrowly beaten on the 10th count for the last seat by Paddy Aspell, for Fianna Fail, who served as a highly-respected councillor for decades afterwards. I was told by the tally people that ten or a dozen more first preferences would have made the difference to my position.

Every time I met Paddy since, I thanked him for winning. It was fairly clear that if I had taken that Fine Gael seat, I'd probably have won an election for TD in the following years. Look at all the fun I've had in life, and am still having, that I'd have missed if my career had continued on the political road.

Could Kilcullen field its own candidate?

A call has been made for Kilcullen to field its own independent candidate in the coming local elections, writes Brian Byrne.

Sabina Reddy, in a comment on the first post on this blog, says there is a 'golden opportunity' for such a candidate to gain maximum votes, as this time around the community 'is not fragmented'.

"Can we step up to the mark and put forward a candidate?" she asks. "If we don't, what guarantees do we have to gain equal opportunities as our neighbouring communities such as Newbridge and Naas? My fear will be if Kilcullen becomes a satellite town/community will we run the risk of being at the bottom of the list when finance is handed out for repairs and maintenance of our area?"

Sabina, who is dealing with major health issues and therefore can't put herself forward as a candidate, also raises the fear that if Kilcullen becomes more of a satellite town, will it run the risk of losing such vital facilities as the Post Office, bank or Garda Station? She is also concerned that if the Eirgrid plan goes ahead, Kilcullen will become the 'national spaghetti junction of pylons'.

"We have enough issues to deal with in the community that an independent candidate would be fine. We were strong at one stage in having a local Fine Gael branch, and we did have an active Progressive Democrats group. The late Pat Dunlea ran a very strong campaign fighting for a northern link to the motorway for the community. He lost out due to the Kilcullen election area being fragmented. We have the manpower, so the opportunity is there."

Referring to an article online about Ireland 'owning its own oil', she adds that Kilcullen needs to 'own its own community'. "If we don't, we will lose out!"

Lawless: Water Meters

The following press release was submitted by James Lawless, Fianna Fail Candidate in the Naas Area.

No Water Meters for Older Naas Estates

Irish Water have been busy installing water meters across Naas for the past few months, however it looks as though they will now move on leaving many properties still un-metered. In some of the older parts of Naas, Irish Water did not install meters due to the nature of the pipework and so those residents will instead now receive estimated bills.

Candidates called to the Volvo Seats

Candidates for the local elections in May who want Kilcullen votes are to be asked to 'sit in the Volvo seats', writes Brian Byrne.

It's a phrase special to Kilcullen, as the Town Hall's seats are actually leather ones as used in the Volvo S60 car. How they got there is another story, but in this context the words are an invitation to the would-be councillors to come to a town meeting and lay out their stalls in public to those whose votes they are after.

The idea comes from local community activist Orla O'Neill, who has played pivotal roles in Kilcullen Community Action, the Community Playground Project, and most recently the achievement of the Community Childcare & Education Centre which will be ready by the end of April.

The candidates so far

Those so far declared for the Local Elections 2014 are listed below. An asterisk denotes a sitting councillor, either in the Naas Area of Kildare County Council or on Naas Town Council (in some cases on both). We'll provide more details later.

Breen, Anne - Labour*
Brett, Fintan - Fine Gael*
Callaghan, Willie - Fianna Fáil*
Carpenter, Fergus - Labour
Clear, Pat - Independent*
Dunne, Ger - Labour*
Hillis, Billy - Fine Gael
Lawless, James - Fianna Fáil
Moore, Seamie - Independent*
O'Sullivan, Jacinta - Fine Gael*
Power, Robert - Fianna Fáil
Scully, Darren - Fine Gael*
Pat Horan - Independent

The election will be held on 23 May. A nomination period of one week for actual registration of candidates will be open four weeks before polling day.

Elections 2014 from A Kilcullen Diary

This will be the blog attached to A Kilcullen Diary to provide information, PR, comment and analysis on the Local Elections 2014 as they relate to Kilcullen.

PR material provided by the candidates will be described as such. The Editor takes no responsibility for the veracity or consequence of any such content. Analysis, reports and comment by the Editor will be bylined. Contributions from the public are welcome, but the Editor reserves the right to alter or refuse any such contributions if they contain inflammatory or offensive statements, or obvious untruths, without correspondence or reason.