Ennistymon woman, Pam O’Loughlin, has been unveiled as the Farmers’ Alliance candidate to contest the upcoming local election in the Ennistymon area this summer.
Pam, whose younger sister Emer was murdered in a caravan on the border between Clare and Galway in 2005, says that she doesn’t recognise the kind of country Ireland is starting to become.
Ms O’Loughlin has been campaigning for justice for her younger sister for almost 20 years and says she is well able to fight her corner.
“I left Ireland in the 1980s and, of course, Ireland has changed a huge amount since then. But since I came home three years ago the values and attitudes of people seem to be changing,” she said.
“We have changed from a country that feels safe to a country that doesn’t feel safe anymore, and I mean physically as well as psychologically.
”I feel so strongly that Ireland is going in the wrong direction. I have seen politicians, with things coming out of their mouth, but you can see in their eyes that they are not buying into what they are being told to say. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors.”
Some of Ms O’Loughlin’s key areas of focus ahead of the election include water pollution, health and house construction.
“One of the biggest things for me is water pollution. We have lovely beaches with all the surfing and the swimming in the Summer, but we also have raw sewage floating out into the rivers in the areas and polluting our beaches,” she said.
“Water is a big issue for me. We know that the water treatment plant in Ennistymon was recently blamed for poisoning and entire river system and killing thousands of fish.
“We also know that a development of 30 houses in Ennistymon has been delayed because of that same infrastructure, because it can’t cope with the addition of 30 extra homes.
“We have local people who are desperate for these homes and we have to wait for them until the sewage system is sorted out.
“The fact that there is no A&E in Ennis is a big issue, and we all know the state that Limerick [UHL] is in. The reopening of the A&E department in Ennis would take a huge amount of pressure off of Limerick.
“I want to bring the voices of the people of Ennistymon to the council. As people know, I’m a bit determined and I don’t give up easily.”
Ms O’Loughlin has a background in trauma and orthopaedic theatre nursing and is also an award-winning project manager for one of the world’s largest food manufacturers. She is currently involved in local agriculture through milk recording and relief farm work.
“Rural Ireland is being left behind, were getting the scraps, what is left over after the cities. We need to bring a bit more focus on what needs to be done for local people. A lot of emphasis seems to be put on tourist facilities but there are people living in those areas all year round, and they need facilities and services,” she said.
“We need to cater to the people who live here as well. Not just the influx of tourists who come in here, stay awhile and then go home.”
The Farmers’ Alliance is Ireland’s newest political party and has a focus on farming and rural issues.
The group first came together as a representative farming organisation but obtained official status as a political party earlier this year.
Its aim is to follow in the footstep of the Dutch farming party, the BBB, which came from nowhere to win the majority of seats in the Dutch local elections last year.
Andrew Hamilton is a journalist, investigative reporter and blogger who has been working in the media in Ireland for the past 20 years. His areas of special interest include the environment, mental health and politics.