Putting community front and centre - Kilkenny election hopeful

Local Election candidate Joe Sheridan has vowed to prioritise the needs of elderly people and to create ‘thriving’ and ‘active’ communities if elected to Kilkenny County Council in the upcoming Local Elections on Friday, June 7.

Mr Sheridan joins Maria Wall and Jenny Catt Slattery along with nine sitting Fianna Fáil councillors bidding for a seat in four Local Electoral Areas.

The Kells native is vying for a seat in the Callan-Thomastown Municipal District which will be fiercely contested following news that both Patrick O’Neill (Fine Gael) and Matt Doran (Fianna Fáil) will not seek re-election in the area.

For Mr Sheridan, the transition from community man to potential councillor has been an exciting process and believes his community ethos can be an asset at local government level.

“I want to be a bit of a bridge between community people and the council to see what can be done,” he said. “It is a leap, there’s no question about it, but I was born into a household that was embedded in the community. My dad was hugely involved in community stuff so, from a very young age, we were always encouraged to partake in some way in the community,” he said.

FOR MORE ELECTION NEWS, CLICK HERE

“I’ve been on nearly every committee throughout from fundraising to development to planning,” he added.

Local facilities including playgrounds and sites and equipment for minority sports ‘must be enhanced through Sports Capital Funding’ according to the Fianna Fáil candidate, adding, ‘accessibility to sports equipment in public areas must be increased’.

Mr Sheridan also believes his voice can be a support mechanism as a local representative in tackling social issues such as gambling for young people as well as challenges such as loneliness facing older people.

“I went to Lourdes on a few occasions and it was amazing how the elderly mixed with the youth. They got so much from each other, it was unbelievable,” he said, adding he would push for similar engagements to support the elderly in becoming more involved in the community.