#GE2020: Mark Wall, Labour
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| Cllr Mark Wall, canvassing in Kilcullen with Cllr Aoife Breslin. |
“I thought, if we could get a bunch of them in one room where they had a chance to talk to each other, I know there'd be a big exchange of ideas,” he says. “Out of those ideas could come jobs.”
The thought was a reflection of his belief in the value of remote working 'hubs', where some people currently making long commutes to work might be able to do their jobs from nearer home. “Even if they could do it a couple of days a week, it would make an enormous difference to their quality of life, and to their families. They wouldn't have to leave their homes so early, and they could pick up their children from school.”
When he gets feedback on the doorsteps about quality of life problems faced by commuters, Mark Wall knows about it personally. “In 1996 I started work with Smurfits in Ballymount in Dublin. At that time it took me 56 minutes to drive to work. When I finished in 2006, the journey was taking me more than two hours.”
It's a constant issue for the many who have to get up early to drop off their children, and eventually make it home late in the evening after a couple of hours' commute, too tired to have proper quality family time. "Quality of life is being destroyed. Even at the weekends they're too tired."
The necessary infrastructure, particularly broadband, is still problematical in south Kildare. Mark Wall believes it should be treated as an essential service, just like electricity. "But for some reason, in south Kildare we seem to have been forgotten about. It's just not being rolled out fast enough."
Hence his interest in the hubs, which in key towns at least would be closer to the homes of people living in the smaller settlements. "We're trying to get one set up in Athy, and in Portarlington. There's one already started in Naas."
Getting more jobs established locally is another way of trimming the need for long commutes. "Overall, the employment situation is much improved nationally. And there's more money available for helping business. But we need to direct more of that money out into the country. In south Kildare we're not looking for another Intel, but 20 jobs here and 30 jobs there can make all the difference."
There is land available for industry and business. He points to the new site purchased in Newbridge for IDA investments. "It's important that we have the land ready, but we have to make sure that the money for investment follows quickly. For south Kildare, we need a strong voice to make sure it is diverted our way."
Housing and homelessness, obviously, are other big talking points on the canvass. They also come close to home in his work as a county councillor since 2009. "Last Sunday morning I took two calls from people left in a vulnerable situation. Anxiety about homelessness is coming at me seven days a week. The threat of it, from banks, from rented accommodation being sold or being priced out of reach, is just destroying people."
It's a constant theme in this election that there just isn't enough social and affordable housing. "A lot of people we've been meeting have children living away, paying massive rents and not able to get on the on the property ladder for themselves. We have public land, and we can get money from the Credit Unions. We can put the two together and get the houses built."
In Kilcullen at the beginning of this week, canvassing with Cllr Aoife Breslin, he said there were people 'crying out for help'. "From the working person, from people not working any more, and from people who can't work. The country now has lots of money, but the huge issue for me is how that money is spent.
"There are people who have worked all their lives, and now they want something back. Apart from themselves, many are thinking of their children and grandchildren, and the waiting times they have for services. It's just not right, for instance, that a family has to wait five years for a child with autism to be seen."
In Kilcullen he says he found there is still a good representation of the Labour vote which was always part of the town's voting mix. The tradition goes back beyond even his father Jack's time as a TD, to the late Joe Bermingham. "In the older estates, that support is still there."
Jack Wall served in four Dáils from his first election in 1997. He retired in advance of the 2016 campaign. Mark ran on the Labour ticket then, but was a victim of the party's 'meltdown', coming in fourth in the then 3-seater. "This time it may be a bit more positive. As a councillor I've been doing a lot of work over the years in the area. But I can't call it."
Nobody can call it. There are eleven candidates chasing three contestable seats. Though at least this time he is assured of at least one extra vote.
"The last time, the boundaries had been changed so that I couldn't even vote for myself," he says with a grin. "This time around, I can at least do that."
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