Offaly man finally gets go-ahead to contest local elections

BIRR man Seán Maher has finally been given the go-ahead to contest the Local Elections on June 7.

55 year old Seán is popular and affable but his road to being chosen was prolonged and frustrating.

The Birr Sinn Féin Cumann called two conventions, one in December and one in February, and both were cancelled, for reasons which the party doesn't wish to go into.

Now the problems have been sorted out and, said a relieved, determined Sean, “we are full steam ahead. We've already been out canvassing for several weeks. A lot of ground work has been done.”

Sean became a member of Sinn Féin in 2014.

“Until that point I was heavily involved in soccer. It took up a lot of my time and energy. But then it came to an end and I took up a new pastime! I previously worked in Grant's and I became a Shop Steward there, which is a rep for the Union SIPTU. That was in 2008. I became a union rep because I had a natural inclination for justice and working to improve working conditions, in any company. It's not such a big leap from there, I suppose, to politics. In 2014, with my soccer behind me, I began pouring my energy into politics. The Michael Larkin Cumann in Birr was defunct and we got it going again, in 2014. Since then it has gone from strength to strength.” Seán left Grant's a few years ago and has been working in construction since.

“Sinn Féin attracted me because the party is dedicated to helping the working class, and especially those workers who are going through injustice and hard times. There has been a lot of hurt and difficult times since the 2008 financial crash. The government has had a lot of time to tackle the big challenges facing the country but it hasn't done so. A lack of affordable housing and high rents is crippling people. The cost of living crisis is crippling people. Without the Michael Larkin Cumann the working class people of Birr would be in a far less sympathetic environment.”

Seán recalled the successful anti water charges protests. He thinks the government is going to try and reintroduce higher water charges again.

“I say this because I see that Uisce Eireann workers are being offered new contracts, giving them a choice between accepting redundancies or staying on in the company. It's evident they are becoming more corporate. It's evident that Uisce Eireann is following the path which Bord na Móna has gone down, which is not a good path, it's less community focussed.

“In general, people are very angry. They want a different direction. So much now seems to be centred around market forces, to our detriment.

“The health service is also falling short. For example, Scoliosis sufferers are not getting treatment early enough. It's wrong that children with Scoliosis can't get the treatment.

“We need a society which recognises that homes should be a human right, having a place which is a base, which is always there for us. I see young men returning home to Birr from Australia and they are dismayed because they can't get anywhere to rent.”

Sean, who lives in The Rocks, Crinkle, says he's a proud Birr man “through and through.”