Micheal Martin has the stomach for round two
He was there on a canvas of the Kerry town with party candidate Norma Moriarty, whom he described as a “dynamic” teacher.
It was his second round of pancakes — the first was cooked by children at St Oliver’s National School, Ballycasheen, Killarney.
The brief hello to around 300 mostly ladies at the East Avenue Hotel took the bones of an hour as he circled the tables to shake hands and was swamped with requests for photographs and chats.
The Soroptimists are a non-political international women’s organisation — but the acting president who greeted the Fianna Fáil leader was Sheila Casey, a former Fine Gael mayor of Killarney. Ms Casey is now chair of the South Kerry Development Partnership.
That body had been a model in Europe and should not have had to go under the umbrella of the county councils, Ms Casey told him, referring to a reorganisation under the then environment minister, Phil Hogan of Fine Gael. It had been an example of a bottom-up approach where communities had a real voice at local level, said Ms Casey.
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“I’m a great believer in restoring autonomy. Autonomy was the key thing for Leader,” said Mr Martin, pledging to work to restore independence for the rural community organisations.
The Killarney branch of Soroptimist International is one of the country’s oldest women’s organisations, founded more than half a century ago.
Sarah McCormack, its national president, said the organisation is essentially about enabling women to reach their full potential in their communities, seeking professional equality and better provision for childcare and for carers.
Emer Moynihan, a hotelier in the heart of Killarney, told Mr Martin small business owners aged over 55 should have equal tax treatment with the farming community, and the same capital gains reliefs when they want to pass their businesses on either to family or to managers.
When Mr Martin said that things were changing for the new generation, Ms Moynihan said the needs of “existing entrepreneurs” are just as urgent.
The tax and USC burden on the self-employed was also raised. Anne Wrenn, owner of a guesthouse, said the self-employed are discriminated against — they pay PRSI but get no benefits when out of work.
“The self-employed get no tax breaks, no unemployment, yet they are paying huge taxes — anyone that’s self-employed feels like that,” she said.
Then there was maternity leave: The statutory €230 for maternity leave was too little, said Jennifer Pyne who was with her nine-month-old boy. She was returning to work today with family members rowing in to help with the child minding.
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