Kenny comes home with ministerial army

IN THE SPOTLIGHT ?AN Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, is pictured before giving his leader’s address at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis 2014. Deputy Kenny will again address the nation from Castlebar during his party’s National Conference on Saturday evening. ?Pic: Barry Cronin

Kenny comes home with ministerial army


Conference charm offensive ahead of General Election

Áine Ryan

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny is bringing it all back home this weekend as an army of  Government ministers descends on county town, Castlebar, bearing all sorts of good tidings as part of  their conference charm offensive ahead of next year’s General Election.
And while one well-known Mayo TD, John O’Mahony, who was swept to power in the blue tsunami of 2011, will be in attendance, The Mayo News understands he is under pressure from the party machine to run in the new Galway-West constituency. It encompasses key areas of south Mayo – from Ballinrobe to Shrule – where he garnered 1200 invaluable votes last time round which helped him take the fifth seat.
Speaking to The Mayo News last night, Deputy O’Mahony declined to comment, however, on his intentions but did say a decision was imminent and may even be announced over the weekend.  He confirmed he was still talking to people on the ground in both Mayo and Galway, as well as the party organisation and the Taoiseach.
The Mayo News also questioned him about the party’s ‘charm offensive’ in the Taoiseach’s home patch, noting that constituents would be forgiven for thinking that recent austerity economics was a  figment of their imaginations.

Ministers meet-and-greet
THE meet-and-greet schedule over the weekend includes Minister Michael Noonan and Richard Bruton meeting local Chambers of Commerce and businesses to inform them of the details of last week’s €250 million regional recovery plan. Minister Leo Varadkar will visit Mayo General Hospital and the Sacred Heart Hospital to discuss the recent developments there while Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney will meet with local bodies in the farming sector.
Furthermore, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys will visit the Mary Robinson Library in Ballina, the National Museum of Country Life, as well as the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar.
Responding, Deputy O’Mahony stressed ‘the importance of ministers meeting interest groups in the county’.
“I would see these meetings as important as anything that would be discussed at the conference. The message I have been hearing in the last 18 months from people in the west is that the recovery hasn’t reached us,” Mr O’Mahony said.
He continued: “We need to make this recovery package real and put it back into people’s pockets who have suffered the most and also spread it around so that there are opportunities for everyone.”
Commenting ahead of the conference, Enda Kenny said: “I am delighted that the Fine Gael National Conference is being held in Mayo this weekend. It takes place at a time that the Government is focusing on making the recovery felt by all households across Ireland.
“Our regional towns and villages are hugely important to the fabric of this country and we will do all we can to ensure that we deepen and secure this recovery so that those in Mayo feel it in the same way as those in our larger cities.”
Meanwhile, the Castlebar branch of Fine Gael said in a statement: “The Mayo Fine Gael organisation is delighted to welcome the Fine Gael National Conference to Castlebar. The event represents a huge boost to Mayo and will attract over 2,500 delegates from all over Ireland this weekend.”

Busy programme
THE conference opens on Friday night in the TF Royal Theatre with an opening address by the Taoiseach and a debate on Rural Recovery, which will be addressed by Minister of State Michael Ring. Saturday’s programme includes a session entitled Crackdown on Crime, Securing the Recovery,  Agriculture, Food and the Marine - 2020 and beyond, Making Work Pay, Building a Health Service we can be Proud Of, Education in our Recovering Economy, Minding Your Mental Health and the Leader’s Address. The leader’s address, as well as some other sessions, will be broadcast live by RTÉ.