Time to dig us out of a hole

Skibbereen didn’t see much of the Tiger but is paying the price for its fall. Locals want political reform and an end to the national spiral of unemployment and emigration, writes Claire O’Sullivan.

ONE of the most interesting aspects of the election will be whether national issues will dictate voting choices or whether local issues and local personalities will once again determine where the preference goes on the ballot sheet.

While in the 2007 election the political parties all did battle around the issue of tax cuts and spending priorities, this election is taking place in a radically changed environment. Nobody that the Irish Examiner spoke to in the Co Cork town of Skibbereen was under any illusion about the dark and difficult road ahead for the next government — but they want the members of the 31st Dáil to provide a vision for the country, to engender hope, and as one man said “to knuckle down, roll up the sleeves and start digging us out of this hole”.