Tag Archives: Labour TD

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of his father, Paddy, in a farm accident in 1999. The Scariff man was speaking in the context a farm safety competition, which he has invited Clare primary schools to participate in. A dry stock farmer himself, the Labour TD said the fatal accident had a profound effect on him and his family. “It was an awful shock. Like every other family this has happened to, you always think it will happen to someone else. He was caught between a transport box and a tractor. He was very well known in farming circles here in Clare,” Deputy McNamara said. According to the most recent Health Safety Authority (HSA) figures, since 2010, seven people have died in farm accidents in the county, which includes two deaths last year. The HSA say the most vulnerable groups on any farm are children under the age of 18 and those …

WHILE Clare TD Michael McNamara has backed Eamon Gilmore to continue as leader of the Labour party, he feels the party’s ageing front bench needs to be shaken up. He has predicted that Labour will do well in the local elections in the Banner County, where, he says, their campaign is being well received. Regarding the leadership of the party, which has long been the subject of debate and which was questioned again this week by European election candidate, Phil Prendergast, Mr McNamara said a change of leader wouldn’t make any lasting difference. “If you changed the leader, I’m sure you would get a bounce for a while, until the next leader had to make unpopular decisions and then you’re back to where you were.” While he isn’t backing a change of leader, he does feel Labour has to make changes. “I don’t see an alternative to him (Gilmore) presenting itself at the moment and I don’t see an alternative …

CLARE TD Michael McNamara has requested the Government to issue a “letter of comfort” to Clare County Council to provide reassurance that funding will be available for necessary repairs following the disastrous storms. The Labour deputy said the scale of destruction on the Clare coast and in the Shannon Estuary was underlined at Monday’s meeting of the local authority when members were told that the total estimate for repairs now stands at €36.8m. “Clare County Council has already spent €720,000 in temporary repairs and the need for further considerable expenditure is urgent. The council has spent this money without receiving any letter from the Government stating that the local authority will be reimbursed. County manager, Tom Coughlan has pointed out that further spending without written authorisation raises the issue of good corporate governance. Clearly the Council is caught between a rock and a hard place. “The scale of what has happened on the Clare coast is truly shocking and there …