One of the first time candidates in the Castleisland Local Electoral Area for the June 7th election, Michelle Keane, is discovering the levels of grass roots work that a conscientious, elected member of Kerry County Council should be engaging in.
The Knocknagoshel native, who has rattled and is still rattling away at the cages of the political establishment, is fearless in her unorthodox approach to local politics – for now.
She shows little or no regard for the subtleties of diplomacy and no patience at all for the widely perceived lack of attention to the needs of sections of the community she’s yearning to represent.
She believes that people are screaming out for help based on her experiences on the campaign trail of the past couple of months.
Some Like Her – Others Don’t
Some people like her – others don’t. Some people will vote for her – others won’t.
One way or the other she has raised awareness of the political system associated with campaigning and voting our local representatives into office to an unprecedented level.
She has done so to the extent that only a tireless community work rate will be good enough for consideration.
A pair of shin guards to prevent the legs from being taken from under those who don’t meet her clearly set standards should be considered essential requirements for any future political aspirants or opponents.
Persistence and Phone Calls
In the course of her campaign to date she has helped several people who had problems that seemed insurmountable to them – but not to her and she claims to have been able to sort them all out through required form filling, persistence and phone calls.
In several cases she found that by making a phone call on their behalf was enough.
In one instance a couple from a neighbouring county, with two young children, bought an old house in the Castleisland area and did it up.
Then they found that they couldn’t get a doctor / GP in the locality to ‘take them on.’
A Positive Result
“Naturally, with a couple of young children, they were very worried about their situation and I was delighted to have got a positive result after making a call for them to a local doctor.
There was the woman who was trying to have her council house heating and cooking system changed from solid fuel to oil and “that too was sorted by a couple of phone calls and making contact and getting the name of that contact,” said Michelle.
Tackling Vulture Funds
She is also locking horns with banks which have sent worryingly threatening letters to under pressure householders whose accounts have been taken over by faceless vulture fund operators.
You wouldn’t fancy the vulture’s chances of escaping that encounter with its feathers intact.
And there is the story of a local farmer who was owed a substantial sum of money by the Department of Agriculture and he couldn’t make any headway in obtaining payment on his own.
He spoke to Ms. Keane and, through the persistence of a series of phone calls to a contact in the department, the man was sorted out.
Ballymullen Barracks Protest
Michelle Keane’s campaigning spirit and style, like it or lump it, has bubbled to the surface again this weekend and she has called on all her fellow candidates and sitting councillors and TDs throughout Kerry to join her at the gates of Ballymullen Barracks in Tralee on this Sunday, June 2nd at 11am for a peaceful protest.
This is set to become Ireland’s latest flash-point and Kerry’s first real taste of government policy resistance as the people of the area experience the type of information starvation which so many other communities around the country have had to deal with as the plan, for this historic building as a safety valve for the chaos in Dublin, unfolds. (Advertorial)
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