The Candidates: Richard Daly FG

Being a school principal in Athy, it's not surprising that the main issue which motivates Richard Daly is education policy.



Although a founder member of Young Fine Gael and its first president in 1980, he pretty well eschewed politics after college until he came up against the usual frustrations relating to a new school building for St Brigid's Post Primary School.

"We were informed in 1999 that we were getting a replacement school, because of the condition of the current one and because we were in a designated disadvantaged area," he recalls. "But 1999 went by, and 2000 went by, and 2001 went by ... and the rest is history. I was really annoyed."

When local elections came around he was given the opportunity to put his voice forward politically as a Fine Gael councillor on Athy Town Council. He has been Cathaoirleach of that Council, and previously has served on Athy Chamber of Commerce, Athy Community Council, the Athy RAPID Team, Athy Action for Youth.

Now that he is one of the two candidates for FG in Kildare South, he says he has been 'appalled' to see the extent of the education disadvantage throughout the constituency. "And I might add here, that the school in Athy for which I first began campaigning is still without its new building. Not a block as been laid."

Becoming a councillor hasn't eased his frustrations much, as he finds that 'large bodies move slowly'. "I've had some small successes, but there are lots of major issues and that is what has prompted me to go to national level."

He believes that Kildare South needs people who will lobby very strongly for better resources and services, even ones which are taken for granted in other areas. For instance, the availability of broadband in Athy is poor, and even getting a landline phone connection in the urban area can take as long as 18 months.

"There's an amount of work to be done, and we need to prioritise at national level a lot of the issues down here. If we don't, there's very little you can do at local level."

Richard Daly has been at the forefront of road safety issues and transport users needs across Kildare. In particular he notes that many people moved into Kildare South from Dublin expecting that there would be an efficient rail commuter service back to their work.

"There isn't. What has happened is that we have become part of the Greater Dublin Area with its population moving down here, but we don't get the services for that."

Looking at the looming election in a three-seater with three strong incumbent TDs, Cllr Daly is nevertheless confident that FG has a chance of regaining the seat held previously by Alan Dukes. "No seat belongs to anybody, and what I'm getting at the doors is that people do want change. I think they're going to give a very strong message to the incumbent Government TDs here."

His profile in Athy is quite strong through having lived there for nine years and because of his work with many community and business organisations, so Cllr Daly is working hard to gain extra votes from the rest of the constituency.

"Newbridge is important to me, Kilcullen is, in fact every town in Kildare South is important. And in all of them people have the same issues, whether they are new residents or people who have lived in in the communities all their lives. They expect the services to be there, and they are not."

Back on his education beat, Cllr Daly notes that the under-resourcing is not necessarily a case of the money not being available, but poor management in its disbursement.

"Money which has been allocated for schools is actually being returned at the end of each year because it wasn't spent," he says. "The whole thing is a matter of organisation. For instance, with so many Dublin people coming out here, schools in inner cities are declining, while out here they are overcrowded."

Bottom line, it is all a matter of proper organisation, whether it is to do with schools, rail, or any of the other services. Richard Daly bluntly says the level of organisation at national level for all these services is 'appalling'.

"Give us a chance to change that, and judge us on what we deliver," he concludes.

Brian Byrne.

THE FULL INTERVIEW: This story is based on one of a series of Kilcullen Diary interviews with the General Election candidates in Kildare South. The interview itself is available here as a QuickTime streaming audio.