GE24, the Candidates: Martin Heydon TD
Martin Heydon believes the days of the 40-year career in Dail Eireann are over, in part due to the level of pressure on politicians today, writes Brian Byrne. However, almost 14 years into his own time as a TD, he still feels he has more to give, if re-elected. But he notes a sobering fact that of the 76 Fine Gael members who were voted into the Dail at his first time in 2011, he is one of only ten of those seeking re-election this time.
“At that time I was the one looking around and asking the senior members for advice in finding my way around how the Oireachtas worked,” he recalls a little ruefully. “If I'm re-elected this time, I'll be one of those senior members.”
Before being elected, Heydon's only political experience had been a year and a half as a Kildare councillor. It was a particularly steep learning curve for the young TD, as he didn't come from a family of politicians. It was also a tough time in the country, trying to pull itself up by the bootstraps from the quagmire of the financial crash and the consequent stringencies of the bailout. “I was coming from dealing with local issues for businesses, individuals and community groups. As a nation we had no resources, people coming in from other countries telling us what we could and couldn't do in our budgets. I was bright–eyed and bushy–tailed and full of exuberance — I still think I am — and thought that everything was possible. But those first five years were really hard.”
So it was with some trepidation that he set out on the canvas trail for his second General Election in 2016. He remembers vividly the feeling when he won through again as a 'privilege and honour'. “For the first election, I felt the people were taking a chance on me. But the second one was a vote on the things I had done, and it was a great sense that they were happy to have me as a TD and that a majority wanted me there again.”
It was in this past term, his third, that he says he began to see some of the results of projects which on he had worked during that first five years. “We had no money then to really push projects. But you got them started or reactivated, like the long-needed ring road for Athy and some other big key infrastructure projects.”
Heydon doesn't like to 'talk forward' on policy or projects and says he doesn't think too much about the future or 'obsess' about it. "I kind of live in the moment, to try and deliver in the term I'm in. I go from election to election and see where I go from there." It's probably from that frame of mind that he has developed his sense of a political life being shorter now. "It's a difficult lifestyle now, extremely demanding. Not that it wasn't demanding before, but with the pervasiveness of social media, and the fact that you're never off duty, I think it's hard to see it being a 30- or 40-year job for anybody any more. But as long as I'm enjoying it, as long as I feel I'm making a contribution, I'll stay with it."
Heydon's upward trajectory was quite fast. From a tyro TD to being appointed chair of the Agriculture Committee, to chair of the FG parliamentary party, to minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, and reappointed there when Simon Harris reshuffled the cabinet, is impressive. "Every term, I've taken a little step up, and each bit of progress has meant that I could deliver a little bit more for my constituency as well as making a contribution nationally."
It's no secret that politics places significant pressure on politicians' families, and the 'never off duty' aspect is a particular challenge. "I think for me it has been easier because I started off with a very understanding girlfriend who was very busy playing football and I supported her in that, and she supported me in politics. So we kind of developed it together, and when Brianne and I got married I was already a TD. We had our first son on Budget Day 2014." Now they have four children, who don't know anything different than their father being a politician. But he sets family time aside. "Sundays are particularly precious to me, and I try and mind my weekends. But I couldn't do this job without massive support from Brianne, from my family in general and the family support network. That's why you become more determined each election time, to want to thank them for that, and to get re-elected to show that all their effort wasn't in vain."
If it all ended in this election, he does feel he would be leaving achievements on the table. "I'm very proud to have been the first minister of state for Farm Safety. We're making a discernible difference in driving down the rate of farm fatalities. Farming is the most dangerous workplace in all of Ireland, but we now have a scheme and funding and a dedicated unit within the Department that is changing that. I think I've left a legacy there that will continue to make a difference and continue to make farming safer into the future."
A downside to being a minister of state is that the responsibilities get you pulled out of your constituency a lot, particularly with the trade element of his portfolio that had Heydon going abroad on trade missions. "It's a risk. I'm very much aware that two people who did this job before me lost their seats in their subsequent elections. You have to be organised, to strike the balance with your constituency, and I'm blessed to have a great team of councillors working with me across the area. I think it's working really well together on local and national matters that allows us to deliver and get the best out of ourselves. I think I've got the balance right, but the 29th of November will judge how people feel about that."
Many issues will feed that ultimate judgement — how people are feeling about their personal financial situations, housing, health, and immigration. Heydon acknowledges that in all these there are 'challenges' but he's adamant that, compared to when he started out on this path, things are massively better in the country. "They are a world apart from the challenges we faced in the first government I was a part of in 2011. That's not to say today's challenges are not serious and real to people, but we have come from my first term of us having no money to spend to a place where we now have full employment. We are generating a lot of money from taxation, and we are using that money to look after the most vulnerable in society, to try and make sure that no one is left behind. We're now in a space where money can fix some of the challenges we face."
On the constant matter of challenges in healthcare, he says most problems are structural, and that over a decade under the Sláinte healthcare programme, a difference will be made. "You can't fix healthcare in one 5-year term, and we had to move away from a system where healthcare was a political football in every election. That's why all parties came together to launch the Sláinte model, and I think that model is still on track." He points to, as local examples, new primary care centres in Kildare South, the opening of the Swan Ward in Naas Hospital, and the making permanent of the pilot Small Injuries Clinic in Naas that is taking pressure off A&E facilities in the hospital. "It's not just about resources, or human resources, it's about working smarter."
Acknowledging frustrations from small enterprises and hospitality about the increased costs of doing business, he says the truth is that there are now less people unemployed than ever before, and says actions like raising the minimum wage towards a living wage is raising everyone's standard of living. "We're getting people out of the poverty trap, they're finding that there's a difference between staying on welfare and actually working."
Heydon also concedes the huge challenges in the cost of living, and provision of housing, but says he sees a marked difference compared to five years ago. "That election was really difficult. There was real anger on the doorsteps. Canvassing this time, I feel a different mood. There's definitely a recognition that while the cost of living crisis has been, and is still real, that we have managed the economy well, we have a pro-enterprise environment, and with full employment we have money in the coffers to be able to support people. It's all relative — if I'm at the door of someone with a child with special needs or a health issue, somebody waiting on housing, it will be a different perspective. But I'm also at the doors of people who have got a house, or who were able to buy their own affordable houses for the first time, and those people feel very grateful for what the government has been able to do. There are still people in their 20s and 30s living with their parents, and their frustration can boil over at the door. But I'm really confident that if we get another chance to implement our policies, we will reduce that too."
However, the opposition won't let Heydon and his colleagues away easy, and there's what he describes as 'a lot of noise' to be competed against, in social media, from pressure groups, in the Dail. "They hit you with sound bites. They prey on people's emotions. They can describe an issue really well, but generally they don't have a solution other than a throwaway line that 'this is really easy to fix'. It's my experience that when something is described like that, it's not at all easy.
"I'm uncomfortable going out and saying I helped deliver this or that, but if I don't do social media posts and videos, explain the projects I worked on, then the opposition will just say our government did nothing. If it all ends on the 29th of November, I know I can look across a whole sphere of areas and things I have been involved with, and hold my head high."
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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