Work ethic is the key for Tipperary elected representative

Q. Councillor Marie Murphy, thanks for entering the No Spin Zone. Tell me briefly about yourself and your political career to date?
A. Well Cara, this forthcoming election will be my 6th election, and I was first elected in 2009 to South Tipperary County Council for Fine Gael, in the Cahir Electoral Area. I’ve always had an interest in politics, and was involved with Fine Gael at branch, district, and constituency level prior to putting my name on a ballot paper. However, I never thought I’d be a politician.

Q. In the 2019 Local Elections, you did brilliantly by getting almost 20% of the first preference vote. Do you think that people vote more for the candidate than for their party in Local Elections?
A. Yes, absolutely. People vote for the candidate because of the work done over, say, the previous 10 years. I think that my work ethic and record keeps getting me elected, and hopefully that will the same this time around.

CLOGHEEN
Q. Specifically in your area of Clogheen, what are your greatest achievements?
A. I’m delighted that I was able to help in ensuring that St Theresa’s Hospital in Clogheen was upgraded, it is now a fantastic modern facility that complies with HIQA standards. Also, getting the extension to Shanrahan Cemetery across the line, which was a big deal for the local community. Finally, being elected Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council was also a massive honour for me.

Q. What issues do you expect to hear about on the doorsteps this time, and do you expect to come under pressure because you are a member of a party that is in the present Government?
A. You’ll have housing, immigration and health to an extent. I think people will bring up national issues, however, I believe this Government is delivering, but maybe not as quickly as people would like.
Q. I often hear people say “Oh, there’s no difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail now.” What will you say if someone asks you what the difference is?
A. Fine Gael tend to be more liberal on social issues and more disciplined on the economy. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have worked well together since 1991 on South Tipperary County Council and since the amalgamation of both South and North Tipperary County Councils in 2014.

HOUSING
Q. In my opinion, housing has become a crisis across the board, resulting in record levels of homelessness, and so many young people leaving Ireland. What’s your opinion on this and what can be done in Tipperary specifically to improve the housing situation in our county?
A. The one thing that must never happen again is to stop building houses when there’s a downturn in the economy. No houses were built for years. Ramping up building is the key, and this takes time. In Cahir town and Clogheen in the next 18 months, there will be approximately 110 additional houses built by the county council, not including the 24 that were delivered, 10 in Cahir and 14 in Ardfinnan, in the past few months. Funding for this is coming nationally from the Government. Just to set the record straight, council houses are only allocated to people who are approved on the Tipperary County Council housing list.

FEMALE COUNCILLOR
Q. You’re the first female councillor that I’ve interviewed so I want to ask you about the fact that only 22% of councillors are women. Why is that, and why can’t we get more women into politics?
A. Historical reasons would have been the lack of childcare and lack of general support. Currently there are 9 female councillors out of a total of 40. We have created our own committee or caucus, that’s in its infancy, where we can discuss these topics and a lot more. It’s an issue that we’re really looking at.

Q. What is the best part of being a county councillor?
A. The sense of satisfaction that you get from helping people, absolutely.
Q. Nationally, Fine Gael has got exactly 20% in the last three Red C opinion polls. Does it worry you that the party didn’t seem to get a bounce after the last budget and seems to be stuck on that percentage?
A. When a party is in Government for 13 years, there’s always going to be calls for change. It doesn’t worry me though. I think that Fine Gael will do much better than what the polls say. The calibre of our candidates will also help.

Q. The Taoiseach is constantly criticising Sinn Fein and their policies. What is it about Sinn Fein that Fine Gael has an issue with?
A. Some of Sinn Fein’s economic policies are off the wall. An example is their proposal to bring house prices in Dublin down to €300K – that will put many, many homeowners massively into negative equity.
LAW AND ORDER
Q. Fine Gael has always been seen as the party of law & order. Do you think that the recent O’Connell Street riots in Dublin have damaged that reputation?
A. The lead up to those riots couldn’t have been foreseen. It does highlight the power of social media, the way that people could mobilise so quickly. Since the riots, Fine Gael has proved itself the party of law & order as seen by the arrests of those who burned the Garda cars.

Q. Minister Helen McEntee then described those who attacked the Gardai as “thugs” and declined to retract that. Was she right?
A. She was absolutely 100% correct. Anyone who would go out to burn or damage property deliberately, be it Garda cars, buses, or shops, was properly described by the Minister in those terms.
Q. Immigration has become a really topical and emotive issue, especially in Tipperary. What’s your opinion on what’s happening in Roscrea?
A. Roscrea has already done an awful lot in terms of taking in International Protection Applicants or Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, e.g Ukrainians. I think the Government does have the statistics, Census 2022, to know where towns have already done their fair share. For example, the population of Cahir is 30% non-national, and they contribute massively to the local economy, schools, sports clubs etc, but in my opinion, it would be a mistake to move a large number of asylum-seekers into Cahir because the town has so many immigrants already.
COMMUNICATION

Q. It’s the communication from Government, or lack thereof, that seems to be the biggest criticism about immigration. Do those criticisms have merit in them?
A. Certainly. There is an acceptance in Government that communication must improve, but it now needs to happen quite quickly.
Q. The Taoiseach says clearly that “Ireland is not full.” What do you say to those who argue that we need to take care of our own first, before taking care of others?
A. I think it’s a total myth that Ireland is full and anyone saying that it is, is feeding into an extreme-right narrative. I’m shocked at some of the commentary by people who should know better.

HSE MONSTER
Q. Healthcare remains a major issue. You’ve probably heard me on the national radio saying that “The HSE is a big bad ugly monster.” What can be done to fix the HSE?
A. Money isn’t the issue with the HSE because the current budget is €22.5 billion. It’s actually gone up by several billion euro over the last few years. We need to go back to the Health Board system.
It needs to become decentralised, and there has to be more accountability.
Q. The RTE scandal this year dominated the news headlines and is still ongoing. What do you think of that scandal, and what will you say to voters on the doorsteps if they ask you if they should pay their TV licence fee or not?

RTE
A. The huge salaries that some of the RTE names were being paid were a disgrace.
No politician can advocate for people to break the law, i.e by not paying their TV licence.
However, what many people may not know is that they can pay for the licence monthly by direct debit.
They could do this while the Government review what to do with the licence issue going forward.
Q. So finally, why should people vote for Councillor Marie Murphy at the next Local Elections?
Because of my work ethic, my experience, and my record as a public representative in terms of delivering results for all the people in the Cahir Electoral Area.
Cara: Thanks for entering The No Spin Zone Councillor.
Best wishes in the big election!