Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ar dtús báire, gabhaim comhghairdeas leis an gCeann Comhairle as a bheith tofa inniu. I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on his election. As a new Deputy from County Clare, it is my honour to also throw my support behind Deputy Micheál Martin for Taoiseach in my maiden speech.

I am now a Deputy, though I was a mayor and schoolteacher last week, and I am the man who got the ball rolling with regard to the RIC controversy. That is how some people came to know of me, but the people of Clare know me longer from working on the ground. I sincerely thank each and every one of them for their support in the election. Like Deputy McNamara, I also refer to those who did not support me because we are here to represent a county, one which has felt very much forgotten for the last four years. People have been fascinated recently with hard borders. In my constituency, we feel that a hard border has been in place for a number of years. Once one goes beyond the Red Cow roundabout, the same opportunities and chances do not exist for young people, young couples, people coming out of college and school leavers. That is something I want to see when a new Government is formed, which needs to happen sooner rather than later. Other Deputies have spoken of CAP reforms and there is talk of a loss of between 14% and 19% in that payment. That needs to be hammered out and led by the incoming Government.

A week and a half ago, I was mayor of my county and I tried to lead a council chamber of 28 councillors. We sought to meet with Ministers at every opportunity. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Michael Ring, was the only Minister who properly engaged with our council when he came down. That needs to change, regardless of who is next in government. We need fewer photo opportunities and less parading of Irish wolfhounds around Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Ministers need to come out, meet people, engage with the people of the county, and talk to constructive people who want to see the Banner County move forward in a progressive way.

I wish to reflect on two words, namely, "change" and "mandate". Every single person here has a mandate, and change has come in many forms. The part of Clare that I come from has not had a TD in 98 years, so the people in south Clare would say they have had a change as well. Deputy McNamara aptly prefaced some of want I want to say. We mentioned some who are not here with us today. We have friends from across the political divide. I had a very good friend a few miles out the road, Mike McKee, who was a Sinn Féin councillor. I have no doubt, given some of the trends of the last two weeks, that he probably would have been a TD here had he run, and I say that with the greatest respect to Deputy Wynne. He was a good friend of ours from across the political divide, with whom we worked well, and the people of Shannon and south Clare miss him. I had many robust challenges with him in council elections but we were always good friends afterwards. He is someone I think of today.

As a teacher, the maths do not add up today, but when we come back on 5 March I hope there will be a solid Government that delivers nationally and does not forget people down in Clare. The hard border of which I have spoken should become an invisible one, in order that we can have an Ireland in which everyone feels they have opportunities going forward. I lend my full support as a Fianna Fáil member to the nomination of Deputy Micheál Martin. He is the only leader who fully understands the issues facing rural Ireland. He brought forward a manifesto for our party that is fully costed and solid. He is the man to lead this country and I hope that on 5 March we will have the numbers to make that happen.

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