This article is from page 12 of the 2014-05-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
TWO new independent candidates joined the hustings in the West Clare electoral area at the 11th hour.
Just before the deadline on Saturday last Jackie Dale declared as an Independent candidate for the area.
It is understood Ms Dale is living in Cahermurphy, Kilmihil and has registered as non-party.
Meanwhile retired Garda Sergeant Joseph Enright has begun his campaign in earnest since he both registered and declared as a candidate on Thursday last.
A native of native of O’Gorman Street, Kilrush this Irish speaker now lives in Kilmihil village, having moved there in 2007.
Educated in the Convent of Mercy, and CBS Kilrush, he joined the Irish Army in 1997 and rose to the rank of sergeant within four years.
In 1983 he joined An Garda Síóchána and developed services in Irish as Garda sergeant in charge of the Irish language policy in the Garda College.
Mr Enright continued his education throughout his life and now holds a PRII Certificate in Public Relations; an Honours Degree in Public Management (Human Resource Management) and a NUI Certificate in Training and Education and a NUI Post-Graduate Honours Diploma in the Arts (Language Planning).
Mr Enright said he was propelled to run for the local elections through a consciousness of “poverty and hard- ship suffered by many people and the impact this has on our people. I am also conscious of depopulation in West Clare through annual emigration due to lack of sufficient investment in West Clare going back to 1922.”
Among the many issues he is campaigning on he said, “I am highlighting the lack of Irish language cultural facilities in West Clare and government inaction to give Gaeltacht status and facilities to West Clare since 1926.”
He said he is also committed to abolishing the property tax and the proposed water charges for poor families in West Clare and wants improvements to the enterprise office, road infrastructure and public library network in West Clare.