Politics at its best is simple. It’s about showing up, doing the work and getting things done for people in your community. That’s what I’ve done over 22 years in public life, and what I commit to doing if you elect me as your TD in Galway West.
I’ve been lucky enough to serve this constituency at every level – at the Cabinet table as Government Chief Whip and Minister of State, as a TD, as a Senator and Leader of Seanad Éireann and on Galway County Council, where it all began for me.
Titles aren’t what drives me, delivery does.
When I joined Galway County Council in 2004, Maigh Cuilinn was choked by traffic. Everyone knew the town needed a bypass, and when the financial crash came, I was told to forget it – the country was bankrupt, and that project was finished.
I didn’t accept that.
I kept pushing through, making sure the bypass stayed relevant and in the planning system, building cross-party support and ensuring that when the recovery came, Maigh Cuilinn was ready. The bypass opened in 2023. It shows how politics should work: using patience, persistence and a refusal to give up on your community.
When I was Minister, I secured the funding to purchase Connemara Airport which underpins the future of our thriving islands and ensures they stay connected.
On health, I’ve consistently championed University Hospital Galway. The UHG campus needs transformational investment – new ward blocks (which now has had a design team appointed ), a completed masterplan, and the elective hospital and new Outpatients’ Department at Merlin Park, which will finally relieve the chronic pressure on our acute services.
I will continue to work hard to ensure UHG gets what it needs to serve Galway and the west as a world-class regional hospital.
The approval of the N6 Galway City Ring Road is a genuinely historic moment for our city and county. I’ve supported this project since the beginning, alongside BusConnects, a light rail for Galway, as well as the broader investment needed to give Galway a transport network fit for the 21st century.
The job now is to deliver, and I intend to hold every agency and department to account to see that happens.
Galway needs more homes: more land brought forward for development, more flexibility in planning guidelines for rural communities and more support for young people trying to get a foot on the property ladder.
I’m not about grandstanding
The Government is working night and day to ensure there is a future for our young people, and changes to planning laws will also ensure that people in the Gaeltacht will have a viable option to live in their communities and live life in their language.
On the Irish language, I am proud of what has been achieved: introducing Erasmus Gaeltachta, which gives third-level students the chance to spend a semester immersed in the language, to supporting Gaeltacht communities which are central to the identity and economic life of this constituency. This work must continue.
I’ve never been the loudest voice in any room; I don’t deal in social media grandstanding or easy politics. What I offer is two decades of experience, a deep knowledge and love of this constituency from the city to Connemara and the islands, and a record of getting things delivered, even when it was difficult.
Galway West deserves a TD who will be a present, prepared and effective voice at the table when decisions are being made.
On 22nd May, I am asking for your number one vote, or highest preference. I will not let you down.
