Soc Dems party leader hears stories of childcare, disability and housing
TRAVELLING door-to-door is a tough task at the best of times for election candidates. Tougher still, when covering one of the largest constituencies in the country, covering an expanse from the outskirts of Cork city, right to beyond Castletownbere and the Beara peninsula.
And tougher still when you are 39 weeks pregnant.
Social Democrats (SD) leader and Cork South West TD Holly Cairns is expecting her first child this week but has remained busy on the campaign trail, beating the pavements and listening to the views of voters.
‘There’s been loads of people just wishing us well,’ she told The Southern Star. ‘People who have gone through the same journey giving lots of advice and tips. So, yeah, a really nice response.’
It’s rare to see such across-the-board positivity on the doorsteps in the run-up to an election, as The Southern Star saw on the campaign trail with Deputy Cairns this week in Lady’s Cross in Clonakilty. But there were very real concerns being raised by families, too.
‘I’m voting for change,’ said Sharon Russell, a nurse and yoga teacher raising a young family. ‘Affordable housing is a huge issue. Lots of my friends are looking for houses, and they can’t find anything, not even rentals.
‘Housing and childcare are two of the main issues.’
Sharon said she will be voting for Deputy Cairns because ‘she’s passionate about what she stands for, and I feel like she’s genuine.’
Housing and childcare were regularly brought up on the doorsteps. Supports for small businesses were also raised in Lady’s Cross. One businesswoman told The Southern Star that a sobering summer had been extremely tough.
Another, painter and decorator Eamonn Finn, remains very busy but believes things have got tougher for the self-employed. ‘I found this year very hard now compared to the last couple years – the cost of everything, cost of materials, labour, massive … everything is a struggle.’
Eamonn also raised the issue of facilities for children like his son Rhys at Clonakilty AFC soccer club, as the club seeks to expand to deal with an ever-growing demand.
Along the way, there were a couple of dissenters from the SD message – two young women walking in Lady’s Cross who gave short shrift to Deputy Cairns’ offer of some election material with a firm but very polite ‘No thank you’. It turned out they were canvassing on behalf of fellow Cork South West candidate Cllr Alan Coleman!
Disability services was another issue raised by constituents in Lady’s Cross. Deputy Cairns said that is the thing that she is contacted about most.
Caroline Hayes was out walking her dog when she bumped into Deputy Cairns on the canvass. Caroline says she was the first person to move into Lady’s Cross when it was built. ‘When it still didn’t even have roads,’ she recalled.
Caroline works for the National Learning Network, and says she believes mental health services and disability services ‘have cracked’ and that she will be voting Social Democrats and hoping for a full introduction of Sláintecare.
‘I’m going to Dublin on Friday to see a consultant for a back issue, having sat on the outpatient waiting list in Cork for five years. I’ve got to go and sit in my car for four-and-a-half hours. I’m not so bad that I can’t do it. But there are other people I’m sure I will meet there from West Cork, who have had to get other people to drive them, or they’ve had to go up and pay for accommodation the night previous, and stuff like that. They’re not recoupable expenses. And for some people who are living really hand-to-mouth now, because the cost of living is so high, I think it’s a lot. Why not bring a consultant down here, give him a room and see all the West Cork people. Why are we sending maybe 30, 40, people up to Dublin? It’s just bad logistical management, moving a large number of people to meet one person.’
Deputy Cairns’ belief that we must prepare for the end of derogation and ‘stop walking farmers to the cliff edge’ is divisive in the farming community, and Cork South West will be one of the most keenly-contested battlegrounds in the country, with strong FF/FG support, and all bases covered, from Deputy Michael Collins on the right of the spectrum, to the left with the likes of Labour’s Evie Nevin, Sinn Féin and Deputy Cairns.
But there’s every possibility that Collins or Cairns, if returned, could be involved in forming the next government.
‘The opportunity to be the leader of the party makes me able to bring issues facing us here in Cork South West into the programme for government talks,’ she says, optimistically. ‘So ultimately, the two positions are fighting for the same thing,’ said Cairns.
‘The positive reception on the doors has been really kind of heart-warming. Of course, we don’t know what the result will be until polling day,’ she adds.
‘This is a really competitive constituency, but this does feel like the election for the Social Democrats, where we can turn our policies into a reality.’
