Learning experience for election debutant

SOUTH Galway woman Emer O’Donnell attracted 601 first-preference votes in Friday’s General Election before being eliminated. The Kinvara archaeologist only announced her intention to run three weeks before polling day and with a campaign team of just three people, including herself, and three posters, she convinced 1% of the East Galway electorate to give her their number one.
Prompted to run by what she saw as the mismanagement of the economy and waste of resources, the Kinvara woman said she will run again, next time with a better-organised campaign, if the new Government are not up to her standards.
“I was seeing wasted resources on one hand and faulty decision making on the other and there seemed to be an inherent fear of the unknown. Leaders are meant to lead and in Ireland they did not. They passed the buck onto every citizen in Ireland without trying to defend us,” she told The Clare Champion.
Ms O’Donnell secured 360 first preferences from people in Kinvara, Doorus and Ballindereen, 20% of the valid poll there.
“Running in the election was tremendous fun and a huge learning experience. I was overwhelmed by the support I received from people. My campaign team consisted of ‘the three amigos’, Carmel McMahon from Kinvara, Mary O’Dea from Carron and myself. I had three posters for my campaign and they were given to me and I got donations of €170 toward my campaign, which will go some way to pay for petrol in the girls’ cars,” she outlined.
Despite her sense of fun, Ms O’Donnell has some good ideas about the future of the country and ways to make savings without increasing taxes. She would start making cuts in the Department of the Taoiseach and tackle the EU-IMF bailout by dealing directly with the bond holders. She also said there should be more women, not just in the Dáil but in charge of the country’s finances.
“It is the women of Ireland that do the budgeting. I saw the most amazing women when I was a child. They had nine, 11 or maybe 16 children. There was no social welfare but they fed their children, they educated them and they reared them and they are the kind of people this country needs,” she said.
Ms O’Donnell learned a lot from the experience and would encourage others to do it too.