GE24, the Candidates: Fiona O'Loughlin, Fianna Fail
When Fiona O'Loughlin started on her first political campaign, in the mid-1990s for Newbridge Town Commission, she clearly recalls the feeling that the result would dictate the direction of the rest of her life, writes Brian Byrne. “I remember not being confident about being elected, but knowing that if there was to be a road for me in politics, it would start here," she told the Diary this week. She did get elected, and is still travelling that road 30 years later, having been a commissioner, councillor, TD and Senator.
These past few weeks, the roads of Kildare South have been particularly busy for her as she has canvassed to regain the Dáil seat she lost in 2020. “I'm absolutely ready, bursting with energy and enthusiasm, to serve the people of Kildare South again."
There's political blood in her family — a grand-uncle served in the very first Dail, her grandfather was in the first Kildare County Council and her dad Jimmy was one of Kildare's longest serving councillors. But she didn't immediately consider it for herself. “I grew up at home in Rathangan, one of 11, with all sorts of community and political activity. But I started work as a teacher in Newbridge when I was 19, then got involved in community activities there. I was with the scouts, the music society, and helping to try and get facilities like a playground and an arts centre for the children and the people I was working with.” That brought her into the political sphere, and eventually she was asked to run for the Town Commission for Fianna Fail.
“When elected I was the youngest of the commissioners, and the only woman there for a long time. I think I was quite shy, I know it was daunting and I felt intimidated and it took me a while to develop my own voice and my own confidence.” By the time the 1999 local elections came along she had found both well enough to retain her seat on the Town Commission and win another on Kildare County Council. Town commissions ceased to exist in 2002, which she still considers a retrograde step for local government. “When you have people directly elected to represent your larger town you may only have a small budget, but you can have a lot of impact in your own community even with a small amount of money.”
A career break from teaching to travel was followed by working with People in Need and then the Special Olympics organisation. When the first Special Olympics to be held outside the US came to Ireland in 2003, she had what she remembers as a ‘wonderful job’ of Host Town Programme Manager, recruiting towns across the island of Ireland to 'adopt a country' so that 7,000 athletes coming here had places to stay and also share cultural experience. Kilcullen adopted Kenya, and afterwards the host committee here raised money to help build an athletics track in Kenya. "I had no doubt that Kilcullen would absolutely tap into it, and they did."
O'Loughlin was working with up to 41 countries from her Newbridge home and an office in Dublin, raising awareness for Special Olympics and also funding from the EU, all while continuing as a Kildare councillor. A tilt at higher political ambition came with with the 2016 General Election, when she was teamed with Sean O Fearghaill who had been a TD in Kildare South since 2002. "There was an opportunity for my party to take a second seat, and I felt I could do it. It was a tough, daunting campaign, but we made it." O'Fearghaill was subsequently elected Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, and has been automatically returned each election since. In 2020, Fiona O'Loughlin unexpectedly lost the seat she had held for just one term. Though devastated — "I had worked really, really hard" — she decided to have 'a big think and a talk with myself'. "I felt I had more to give, and that I wanted to continue to help shape the future of Kildare South, and run again the next time." But to remain politically relevant in the interim she needed to run for the Seanad. She did, and was successful.
"I used my time wisely there," she says. "I worked on issues I cared about, including legislation for better management of the Curragh plains." She says the Seanad, with just 60 people, is more intimate and 'possibly not as aggressive' as is the Dáil. Other areas that interested her included working towards the creation of a domestic violence register, and making IVF state funded. She is also chair of the Committee on Education and Social Protection, and of the all-party Dementia Committee in Leinster House. "One of my key priorities was that Kildare got a specific daycare facility for dementia, which has been in operation for a year now."
On the canvass over recent weeks, O'Loughlin says there's very good engagement. "People are interested in talking about the local issues that concern them, but also international ones because of the horrific situation in Gaza and the aggression by Russia in Ukraine. We've all learned an awful lot in recent years because of that."
Meantime, up to Friday next she and her team of supporters will continue knocking on doors, on the political road dictated by her first election win three decades ago. A road with twists and turns she still loves. "I haven't done this for several years and I'm really enjoying it again."
EDITOR NOTE: All the Kildare South candidates have been invited to interview by the Diary, and in the run-up to polling day we will profile those who accept.
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