Taoiseach puts on a brave face in Bantry
He has been accused of exploiting the vulnerability of people in the town after the Molnlycke factory closed with the loss of 200 jobs in 2002.
Speaking during the visit of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to Bantry on Saturday Mr O’Donovan said it was not a Fianna Fáil broken promise but a personal one.
“It was not the Taoiseach’s fault and it was not Fianna Fáil’s fault. I was hopeful of securing the jobs, it was as a result of personal discussions with a businessman,” he said.
His party leader was in the town to galvanise support in a constituency Mr Ahern accepts is likely to swing in favour of the opposition.
In a speech he called on party supporters not to give away the second seat for the party easily.
Earlier he dismissed talk that locally a divided Fianna Fáil party has not backed Christy O’Sullivan since he switched from being an independent.
“It is always a healthy sign of a party to see competition for who gets to try and win seats. But everybody is focused and our challenge is to do well and see how best we can maximise our vote,” he said.
Bantry is a town where the Taoiseach enjoys strong family ties and his whistle-stop tour began with a visit to 90-year-old Molly O’Malley, the oldest of his ‘Cork cousins’. Despite the family ties in the 2002 roll of election promises Bantry and Baltimore were both promised new piers but neither were delivered.
The Fianna Fáil leader and Mr O’Donovan said the decision not to proceed was made by autonomous local committees, not head office, and should not constitute a broken promise.
He refused to accept that the west of the county has been neglected in terms of investment and infrastructure and said it had made achievements in the area of education in particular.
During his visit, a group of local nurses challenged him in relation to the ongoing industrial dispute.
Liz O’Sullivan and Eileen King, both of the Psychiatric Nurse Association, presented him with the letter they received from the Health Service Executive threatening to dock pay if work stoppages continued.
Mr Ahern told the protesting nurses he wanted to resolve the dispute but did not say how this would be done.
Ms King said in Cork South West the nursing vote would be going to the Green Party’s Quentin Gargan and Sinn Féin’s Cionnaite O Suilleabhain.
