Four fresh faces on hustings

FOUR fresh faces, five seats and a multitude of reasons to run – Ronan Sheehan, Tom Barry, John Paul O’Shea and Willie O’Regan have joined the mad gallop to represent Mallow at Cork County Council level.

Ronan Sheehan, running for Labour, came late to the ticket after initially declaring for Mallow Town Council elections; however, having captained the Cork Junior footballers to All Ireland glory in 1993, he is a ready-made household name.

He is under no illusions about what can be achieved as a county councillor, but he believes he can make headway on the “bread and butter issues”, such as lobbying for inward investment and selling Mallow as a good location for jobs. “I’m interested in real representation, not posturing; in listening without pretence. I have plenty of experience in this regard – I was shop steward with Electrical and Pump Services in Mallow for 10 years,” says the 40-year-old father-of-four.

Tom Barry’s sales pitch, meanwhile, is his business acumen. The 40-year-old Fine Gael candidate and father-of-three is managing director of local business TB Warehousing where he employs up to 10 people.

He wants to bring a “business prospective” into the running of the council and believes, as a businessman, he has the experience to do this.

John Paul O’Shea, 25, an employee of the Health Service Executive, is the youngest candidate. He cut his political teeth on the Lombardstown Save Our Post Office campaign. His decision to run for the council is to fight for the survival of rural communities.

If elected, John Paul, an Independent, will be asking the council to carry out an assessment of the social and economic role played by rural communities with a view to using it as a roadmap for future development.

Willie O’Regan, 49, a widower and father-of-four, is a Sinn Féin town councillor. “My main achievement was in highlighting the issue of radon gas as a result of which we got all the local authority houses tested for radon, working with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII),” Willie says.

Unemployment is also an issue for Willie.

Willie and John Paul believe little can be achieved at local town council level, that its role is largely confined to planning matters. All four candidates say the issue of the future of Mallow General Hospital is ‘big on the doorsteps’ and all are hopeful acute services will be retained.

Other candidates include sitting councillors Jerry Mullally (Lab); Noel O’Connor and Tom Sheahan (FG); Dan Joe Fitzgerald (FF), and FG candidate, haulier Anthony Ahern, who ran in 2004.