Caulfield well at home on familiar territory

NO two days are ever the same, in politics or journalism. No two constituents are ever quite the same either.

There never came a day as fine as the Sunday afternoon The Mayo News took a trip to the village of Kilkelly to follow local Fianna Fáil councillor, John Caulfield along the campaign trail.

The East Mayo hamlet was like a village in rural France in high-summer. The narrow compact, streets stand quietly under the shadow cast by a baking hot sun, which shines straight through the spot where Duffy’s pub once stood before its sudden and dramatic collapse last year.

The toot of a car horn and phone call prompts us to follow the local politician and his accomplice, Henry Garvey, into one of the local estates.

Small talk come easily to John Caufield. It turns out this writer’s new abode in Ballyglass is a place he knows well as he rhymes out names to beat the band.

No hassle

He tells us he’s had no hassle on the doors so far. But then again, Kilkelly is his electoral heartland – he picked up nearly 300 first preferences from a tally of 488 ballot papers in Kilkelly NS last time around.

Every issue under the sun has come up on the doorstep, particularly immigration, an issue which the electorate acknowledge ‘is not related to the council’.

Like every other politician, Cllr Caulfield has a dozen or so things he’d like to get done if re-elected.

More housing, safer junctions on the N17 and more buses to ‘badly-served’ Kiltimagh are some of his main ‘bread and butter issues. He’s also like to see the Western Rail Corridor run all the way to Sligo and more progress on the SDZ to Knock Airport.

Any and none of the above can come up on the doorstep, as well as the most random of issues.

Like grass cutting.

_{A poster for Fianna Fáil councillor John Caulfield near Kilkelly}

At the first house we call to, Tina Costello asks what can be done to tidy up the green on the estate, which used to be maintained by the council one time.

The knocks go unanswered at roughly a dozen other houses in this relatively small estate. People clearly have more to be at than stuck at home on a fine day like this, as only one other lady answers the door before it’s time to move on to the next estate.

Here, we call to Joanne Cotter, a hard-working self-employed businesswoman who is like many types of voters rolled in to one.

We are warmly invited in her home, which is costing her €1,300 a month in rent.

“How do you find Kilkelly?” Cllr Caulfield asks from the comfort of her sitting room.

“Eh, it’s alright,” says Joanne, who admits that she’s barely ever at home to enjoy it.

The mother-of-two rises at 5am six days a week, has just worked for 17 days straight, yet reckons there’s people on the dole better off than her when all her figures are calculated.

Her daughter won’t get a grant for college because neither she nor her mother were ever on the dole.

Plight

Not one candidate, she maintains, has said a word on the campaign about the plight of self-employed people like her.

She also sees the bigger picture, pointing to the lack of office spaces in the local community centre.

“I was self-employed for over 40 years,” says Caulfield, himself a painter and decorator, after listening to her story with an attentive and empathetic ear.

“We’re held back, because when you put your head up it’s taxes, it’s every way to crucify you,” a more animated Caulfield declares, as Joanne’s dog, Crackers, sits quietly beside his owner without a care in the world.

The conversation flows amiably for the guts of ten minutes, descending into neither rant nor sermon - the constituent and the councillor clearly know where each other is coming from.

“I’ll canvas with you next time!” Joanne declares as a cheerful John Caufield walks out the door with another ‘Number 1’ in the bag.