Fitzgerald throws hat in the ring for Labour Dáil ticket

COUNCILLOR Pascal Fitzgerald has thrown his hat in the ring to run as a Labour candidate in Clare at the next general election.
Having retained his seat on Clare County Council for a second term, Councillor Fitzgerald believes he is well placed to benefit from the mood for change and the impressive high rating of Labour Party leader Eamonn Gilmore in recent opinion polls.
Speaking to The Clare Champion, the Westbury businessman said he believes there is a move towards Labour in Clare and is confident the party could take a seat at the next general election.
“As I go around meeting people and holding clinics, people have told me that they were very impressed with Eamon Gilmore’s recent visit to the region. There is definite goodwill towards the Labour Party and membership is growing in the country and here in County Clare.
“Clare elected the nationally unknown Dr Moosajee Bhamjee as a Labour deputy in 1992, demonstrating that the people can make change.
“I got a taste of what it was like to be a candidate at the last general election and I now know what kind of commitment and service to the people you have to give and I believe I have a contribution to make in shaping the future of this country for ourselves and our children.”
He noted that it is time for a change. “Fianna Fáail has been in power too long and we have seen the stark results of that. It is hard to stand by and watch this sinking Government throw money into Anglo Irish Bank and give succour to the developers through NAMA, while decent public service people are hit with levies and despairing workers lose their jobs and struggle to pay mortgages, with many in negative equity,” he said.
Councillor Fitzgerald, who lives in Coolderry, Blackwater in South-East Clare, lamented the return of the emigration scourge, which he does not want to see repeated on a large scale.
Commenting on Shannon Airport, he accused the Government of neglecting the airport, a vital artery not just for the Shannon Region but for the whole Western seaboard.
He declared, “Shannon is now completely controlled by Dublin and the Airport Authority is calling all the shots. Shannon was promised independence, to be free to shape its own policy. Instead, it has been put in a position of struggling for survival, only getting a fraction of promised funding. It is now becoming a stagnant airport with staff expressing fears for their future,” he concluded.