‘The best candidate for Longford’ Micheál Carrigy is determined to make a difference
Micheál Carrigy is Longford-Westmeath candidate for Fine Gael and wants to be a strong voice for Longford in the Dáil
Healthcare, a lengthy waiting list and immigration were some of the key issues raised strongly with Senator Micheál Carrigy while he was on the campaign trail in county Longford in recent days.
The Ballinalee native was elected as a member of Seanad Éireann in 2020 and served as the Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Autism and Secretary of the Fine Gael parliamentary party.
He received 6,334 first preference votes in the last General Election, however, he narrowly missed out on a Dáil seat. Senator Carrigy told people on the doorsteps he believes he is "the best candidate for Longford".
The former Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council in 2019-20 was first elected as a public representative, in the Granard Area, in 2009 and he secured a seat on the local authority again in 2014 and 2019.
Senator Carrigy has regularly called for progress on the N4 upgrade between Longford and Mullingar to improve road safety and boost connectivity. He also believes further supports are needed to help younger people to get on the property ladder and he has called for the urgent regeneration of Longford town.
Senator Carrigy said county Longford is a strong agricultural community and farmers need to be supported.
"We want the agricultural community to transition, we have all emissions but we can't be expecting agriculture to take the brunt of it, we have to support and compensate farming communities for whatever changes (are brought in)," he added.
Senator Carrigy said he has young kids and he wants them to be able to walk the streets of Longford town.
"We have a fantastic town and fantastic people and a great county and I wouldn't live anywhere else, I'm proud of where I'm from and that's a priority for me is to get in, work with my colleagues in the council to make sure we make a difference and we make a change because we have to so that people feel comfortable and are able to work and walk the streets of Longford," he said.
"We can't have a situation where people don't want to go into our county town and they don't feel safe in their county town and that is not acceptable."
Senator Carrigy insisted they need to 'think outside the box' and turn it around. "It needs significant investment and extra Garda resources to support the guards and a Family Resource Centre which is extremely important to be able to deal with a lot of social issues on the ground.”
Senator Carrigy stated he believes they have a significant amount of social housing in Longford and more private sector housing is required.
"We need to look at other schemes and maximise the schemes to make sure we get to a situation where any young person or any young family from Longford are able to own their own home," he added.
Senator Carrigy stated he worked for 'several years' on a scheme that delivered 25 affordable houses at Ard Michael on the Ballinalee Road in Longford town but they need to expand that scheme.
"There is a scheme in Ballymahon and in the Granard area and we need to ensure that for everybody in the county it is within their reach to buy or own their own home," he added.
Fine Gael has announced a €40 billion plan earlier this month to deliver 303,000 new homes by 2030.
Senator Carrigy said they have expanded the First Homes Scheme, which was previously confined to newly built houses to include second hand houses.
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He insisted the key priority for him is to make sure every child gets the same opportunity to achieve their potential and there is enough capacity in primary schools for special classes.
"Every child, no matter what their ability is, is able to be educated in their own community and they don't have to leave it and that educational places are available in every single community and every school in the county with that covering special education," he said. "The project I'm working on that I'm trying to model here in Ireland from Scotland is a one stop shop which is a community hub support for families of kids on the autism spectrum and I'm looking to base one of those in Longford to cover the Midlands."
Senator Carrigy received a relatively good reaction on the doorsteps, however, there were a number of significant issues raised with him in Shrule, Ballymahon.
Julie McGrath, a mother of three grown up children, informed him she was looking for help as her husband Bernard who is in his fifth year waiting for a hip replacement.
"He's been here, there and everywhere else and he got scanned and X-rayed," she said. "When he's sent to the clinics down there, it's the doctors in town he goes to and they send him up to Ballinderry, the Bellevue Clinic and he's been up there several times."
Julie stated they spent the whole day from 11am until 7.30pm in Tullamore Hospital three weeks ago.
"They just sent him to the outpatients to see if he had an infection in his foot and when he went over there they were asking him, 'What are you doing here, there's nothing wrong with you'.
Senator Carrigy stated if he was on the waiting list a certain length of time he could go on a national treatment purchase fund, however, she informed him he was already on that.
"He shouldn't be waiting that length of time to get it done. That should not happen," he added.
Senator Carrigy handed Mrs McGrath his constituency office number and he advised her to gather up the documentation and he will follow up on the issue.
Senator Carrigy also spoke to Edel Stanley, a married mother of three who works remotely as a medical director of a pharmaceutical company.
She said her husband also works remotely and "the broadband is due anytime now, the cables are all in" and that is very welcome news.
Asked if she would support him Mrs Stanley replied, "I know about you and I hear you do a lot of things, so absolutely."
A contractor, who did not want to be identified, brought up the issue of immigration and insisted too many refugees were being relocated in rural areas.
Senator Carrigy responded and agreed further dialogue with communities was needed and should have happened.
"I publicly made a statement in the Seanad and in my view with regard to the location of any centre you have to do it in consultation with the people living there," he added.