Local Election Campaign Launch

Times of great change are the time to be involved in politics – Murphy

Irish society is currently going through a major  process of reshaping,  many  old certainties are being challenged,   its  a time of fear for many,  it is also a time to focus on what  is important,  and to decide what our future  priorities should be.     

There must be something noble about influencing the way our town,  our county,  and our country are governed,  that is what politics should  be about.  What has masqueraded for politics  in the recent past  was riddled with cronyism and vested interests.  We need a new approach  based on the principles of  Transparency;  Accountability;  Equality and Honesty,   according to  Cllr Catherine Murphy in a speech to launch  her local election campaign. 

For the first time in a long time the Local Elections will have a national importance,  this is because we are at a crossroads.     I believe the voters on the 5th June will not be focusing on individual the politician’s shopping list,   they will be considering the qualities of the candidates and the track record of both candidates and political parties.   The public are more than aware that when you are at a crossroads,  there are more than one direction to move,  that is why a good  track record and the  trust of the public will be at a premium. 

I have considerable  experience at both local and national level  where I have held those responsible to account in the public interest on a range of issues.  

Planning in the community interest – It was not always popular when  I challenged the worst  rezoning  excesses  of the 1990’s.  Building houses is the easy bit building communities is much more complex that is why I successfully campaigned for  improvements in  public transport, schools,   sporting and other community   facilities.

Funding  facilities –  For the first time there was a fund for parks,  playgrounds, sporting and community facilities when I forced a change in policy at Kildare County Council,  whereby,   development levies  had to be  spent in the town or village they were  collected. 

Accountability – I challenged  the closed door policy of Kildare County Council  believing the public had the right to witness  the decisions that were being made on their behalf.  

Unfinished Estates:   There was a dramatic increase the number of  housing estates taken in charge by Kildare County Council.  This followed my national campaign to highlight the problem of developers leaving estates unfinished.

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Posted by catherinemurphy on April 29, 2009. Filed under Local Elections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.