The Social Democrats party is small in numbers,
writes Brian Byrne. In the Dáil, two TDs, nationally 19 councillors. Running 20 candidates in the 2020 General Election. But they're big on passion, big on commitment.
That's very clear when you talk to
Linda Hayden from Newbridge, the party's contender in Kildare South. She lives the ethos of the party she joined just a few years ago. The ethos that collaborative action is how change is achieved.
It's how she evolved from being a victim of sexual violence to becoming an activist in that area. Opening up conversations, albeit after 13 years of silence because she felt imprisoned in the 'shame culture' that has for too long surrounded those in such situations. "When I did start talking about it, I found there were many others. And every time I talked, a bit of the shame disappeared." Every time, too, she became that bit more able to help others.
Originally from Dublin's inner city, Linda has lived a dozen years in Newbridge, where she finds a similar community spirit to where she grew up. She tapped into that when, as a founder of an embryo branch of the Social Democrats in Kildare South, she and friends hooked up with the
Kildare Coalition to Repeal the 8th. "For the duration, we threw ourselves completely into the effort. And we got the result."
That experience was a good foundation for the 2019 local elections, when her branch decided to run a candidate in the Newbridge electoral area. He is
Chris Pender, formerly of the Greens persuasion. Linda would have liked to run herself, but the time constraints of her job and a 'Celtic Tiger' mortgage on her home didn't allow it. "It was cost-prohibitive for me. I recruited Chris, whom I knew from
Together for Yes. I became his campaign manager, I pushed him when he was exhausted. And he was elected." A wry grin. "Now, he's
my campaign manager and he's getting his own back on me threefold."
That Chris Pender, first time out, gained the fourth of six council seats by steady increments at every count, and reached the quota, is a source of pride to both. And encourages a sense that there's a broader interest in the aims of the SDs than might have been expected.
The Kildare South constituency is large, and Linda Hayden's campaign team is tiny relative to the resources of established parties and even of competing independents. Covering the ground on canvass is a challenge, so the social media-savvy group is undertaking a Facebook Canvass as well as knocking on doors.
Linda says there's a recognition factor on the doorsteps that's surprising her. Many people know her from her anti-sexual violence work. "There are more of us than people think, a lot of people in situations of sexual violence." Chris Pender is also taken aback at how many are aware of his work on the council, after just eight months. "It's all encouraging, especially when we hit the towns which others have forgotten."
They say the people showing interest in the SD policies are 'everybody'. Linda points to their youngest volunteer, aged 14, and to an elderly burglary victim in Castledermot, as examples of the breadth of potential. Clearly the 14-year-old can't vote, but he 'can't wait to join the Social Democrats'.
"People on the doorsteps are thirsty for change," she says. "They want to get back the social and community ethos, not the individuality promoted by the last governments. They want absolute integrity and transparency. They see that's what the Social Democrats are about, with the record of our two TDs Catherine Murphy and RóisÃn Shortall."
She points to those deputies' work in raising the SiteServ and FAI issues. Also to their involvement in achieving the extended unpaid parental leave. And to the SlainteCare initiative of RóisÃn Shortall which became a cross-party reality. "The only way we can fix our problems is with a collaborative approach. If we have been able to achieve what has been done with two TDs, think what we can do if we have four or five?"
On the canvass, people are of course talking about the issues affecting them every day. Housing, health, transport and education. The Social Democrats say they have workable solutions to all of those. "But we're not like Fine Gael and promising tax cuts," Linda Hayden says. "If we want to fix the problems, taxes have to remain the same. We can deliver the changes with the current taxation, with much better management and accountability."
Accountability on matters such as the delays and snowballing costs of the National Children's Hospital. Not necessarily day to day problems in Kildare South. But ... "People are talking about things like that. It doesn't matter how wealthy you are, you probably at least know somebody who is being affected by all the key issues. We're hearing from people who are not necessarily affected themselves, but they are thinking of their children and others who are."
People who, perhaps, might be the ones who surprise everyone when it comes to casting their ballots on 8 February. Passion and commitment can be game-changers.
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