The Mayo News

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has urged party candidates for the town and county council elections to capitalise on the anti-government sentiment and retain an overall majority on Mayo County Council.
READY TO LEAD The Fine Gael team for the forthcoming council elections, both town and county councils, pictured outside the TF Royal Theatre on Monday morning last as the party’s Mayo campaign was officially launched.  Pic: John Moylette

Hard work and focused message needed for FG to capitalise


Edwin McGreal

FINE Gael leader Enda Kenny has urged party candidates for the town and county council elections to capitalise on the anti-government sentiment and retain an overall majority on Mayo County Council.
Speaking at the launch of the party’s local and European election campaigns for Mayo yesterday (Monday) morning in Castlebar, which was attended by the majority of party candidates for both town and county council elections, Deputy Kenny spoke of the opportunity that existed for the party to create a platform for leading the country.
“This is a brilliant opportunity for the Fine Gael party to make its mark at local government level at town and county level. Fine Gael will win the next general election and the work that these people in this room are now involved in between here and June 5 is in putting in that platform for the town and county council elections in Mayo, [so] that we can together create, with the incoming Fine Gael government, an Ireland of which we can all be proud and our children will have jobs in this county and this country.
“We are targeting an overall majority and we hope to get it. We are going for the maximum number of seats we can get.”
And to achieve that end the Fine Gael leader stressed the importance of work in a rallying call to candidates.
“I make no secret that I have said to our candidates, individually and collectively, that I expect that every single household will be canvassed, every vote will be asked for, reasons for asking for the votes will be given because the people out there have convicted Fianna Fail [of wrongdoing].”
Current Catheoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Joe Mellett, said it was important that the party did not assume the anti-government vote will come Fine Gael’s way.
“The people on the doorstep will not vote for us just because we are not of the Fianna Fáil ilk. They’re too intelligent. There might be a Green Party in government but the people of Ireland are not green. They’re an awful lot more intelligent than a lot of people would give them credit for.
“They will ask ‘what’s different about you and your party?’ and ‘aren’t you all the same?’. We need to have the answers for them. In local elections you would normally have to focus only on local issues but this time it is different. We need to know what our leader and our deputies have in mind for the future of Ireland.”

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