A mix of the local and national

By Cian McCormack
Morning Ireland

We made it to Leitrim, after a short stop in Roscommon town.  Our few hours were revealing.

Richard Canny – editor of the Roscommon Champion – filled us in on the local political battles.

There was one unusual story featured on the newspaper’s front page about a local man who has declared for the local election with the same name as a longstanding councillor. There are fears that voters may be confused.

The issues in Roscommon town are similar to other places we have visited. There’s a mixture of local and national issues.

Roscommon Hospital is one of the main campaigning issues, as it has been since the late Tom Fox was elected in the 1980s.

We chose next to visit Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, because it had the highest turnout in the 2004 local elections.

So why, did 76.3% of the electorate turn out to vote in the Ballinamore electorate area? Well, one woman told us: 'Every one is interested in politics here. There’s issues like jobs and the building of a school that we’ve been waiting for for 40 years'.

Another man, who returned home to Leitrim in the 1990s, said people voted in such great numbers because the area is disadvantaged and people want a say in the things that are being done for them.

Again the predominant issues here were local.

Manorhamilton was our final stop. There, at the local sheep sales, farmers were more concerned about how cuts at EU level were affecting their incomes and livelihoods.

Many said they would not vote in the local elections because their views are not being represented and because councillors can do nothing for them.