Meath east byelection, Helen mcentee, labour party, sinn fein, fine gael, fianna fail, politics

Meath east byelection, Helen mcentee, labour party, sinn fein, fine gael, fianna fail, politics

Like Sinn Fein the Labour Party need to rid themselves of the scourge of Grumpy Old Men feathering their nest while youthful politicians look into the obese.

Meath News had predicted over one week ago that Helen McEntee would top the poll, Fianna Fail would be second and Labour would be wiped out. The reason for this prediction was simple, nobody expects a centre-right party such as Fine Gael to do anything other than centre right politics, that means strong fiscal balance coupled with decisive leadership. Labour on the other hand are expected to look after the people who elected them to do the right thing, that means looking after the interests of workers and the less well off. Thousands of people all over Ireland have personally signed letters from Eamon Gilmore prior to going into Coalition where he and other Labour leaders promised not to cut Rent Allowance and other hand to mouth necessities, Labour have abandoned their core supporters and they will pay a very heavy price. Good and decent TDs such as Dominic Hannigan will lose their seats because the leadership of the Labour Party are more concerned with comfortable Ministerial pensions for the rest of their days than they are with the career prospects of youthful politicians who can really make a difference in this country if given the chance.

Like Sinn Fein the Labour Party need to rid themselves of the scourge of Grumpy Old Men feathering their nest while youthful politicians look into the obese.

There was a considerable level of shock among members of the Labour parliamentary party at the outcome of the byelection in which the party’s candidate, Eoin Holmes, won less than 5 per cent of the vote. This compared to the 21 per cent taken by Labour in the constituency in the 2011 general election.

In contrast to Labour, Fianna Fáil enjoyed an encouraging result, with 32.5 per cent of the vote, far better than its 19 per cent showing in 2011.

One Labour Minister of State privately told colleagues yesterday that he had lost confidence in Eamon Gilmore’s leadership. Another TD, a backbencher who has been critical of the leader in the past, said the same mistakes had been made in the byelection that had been made in the general election.

“The people who devised the silly Tesco ad in the general election came up with a stupid leaflet insulting Enda Kenny in the final days of this campaign. The only conclusion is that there has to be a change of personnel if we are to have any chance of recovering,” said the Labour TD, who did not wish to be named.

The Labour leaflet, circulated on the final day of the campaign, portrayed Enda Kenny as being in the same category as Bertie Ahern and Gerry Adams. It provoked serious annoyance among Fine Gael Ministers.

Some Labour members of the Cabinet were also taken aback at the tone of the leaflet, which appeared to denigrate the Taoiseach and Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan.

‘Juvenile response’

“This was a juvenile response to a difficult situation which was created by the very same people in the Labour Party who tried to fight this byelection on issues like gay marriage rather than the economy,” said the backbench TD.

Mr Kenny last night described Helen McEntee’s victory as a “stupendous performance in the face of probably the most difficult economic circumstances our country has ever faced”.

Speaking at the count centre in Ashbourne, Mr Kenny said he had never seen a byelection taking place in such challenging circumstances. The byelection was brought about by the death of Ms McEntee’s father, Shane McEntee, last December.

“To say I am delighted is an understatement. I really am proud of what Helen McEntee has achieved here . . . This is a vote by the people of Meath East but this is not just a vote in respect of her late dad, Shane McEntee,” Mr Kenny said. He described Ms McEntee as a formidable candidate in her own right.

Ms McEntee described her victory as “bittersweet” after she secured 9,356 first-preference votes, ending up with a total of 11,473 after transfers had been distributed.

“You had faith in Dad and I’m just absolutely delighted you had faith in me . . . and if I’m half the TD that he was I’ll be happy,” she said.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin paid tribute to Ms McEntee and the McEntee family.

He said the people of Meath East had given very strong messages on the doorstep on property tax and child benefit cuts.

Meath Jobs, fine gael, labour party

Radical changes to the way the government and business interact with each other, resulting in a major boost to the country's workforce within the next eight years, have been pledged by the government through its new Action Plan on Jobs announced with much fanfare this week.

Among the changes envisaged are the restructuring the country's enterprise agencies, assisting small companies to win significant contracts, providing credit to small and medium-sized firms, improving competitiveness and attracting more international investment to Ireland.

The plan contains over 270 actions which the government said will be implemented this year, and the programme envisages the creation of 100,000 jobs by 2016 and 200,000 by 2020. It is nothing if not ambitious. Critics have declared that the proposals offer little new. The small firms association, ISME, said there was very little that was new or innovative and it believed the plan would have a minimal effect on immediate job creation.

The biggest shake-up is to the county and city enterprise boards which are to be dissolved and amalgamated into a new unit operated by Enterprise Ireland which will be given the job of providing advice to local authorities. The enterprise boards will be replaced with local offices operating from council headquarters.

Merging the country's 35 boards with the councils is expected to save between €500,000 and €2m a year and these new Local Enterprise Offices (or LEOs) will serve as 'one-stop shops', helping small businesses.

Those tasked with enterprise will also face quarterly report cards as part of the government's plans. Each of the 15 government departments and 36 State agencies involved will be subject to regular reviews to identify failings and will have to work to quickly resolve them, the Taoiseach said.

At the heart of the plan is the inherent wish of Irish people to work for a living and make a contribution to wider society. "A job can transform a life," said Mr Kenny. "It can restore missing self-respect and dignity. It can provide hope and direction to so many young people looking to make their mark. It's about people's innate desire to work for their living, to look after their families, and to contribute to their country."

It's certainly a noble aspiration and one that will touch a deep chord with so many of the 14.2 per cent of Ireland's workforce who find themselves unemployed. There is also no denying the enthusiasm of Mr Kenny for the job at hand and to be the Taoiseach who leads Ireland back to economic sovereignty and out of the clutches of the troika within the next few years. But what most people - particularly the large number of under-25s without a job and those who will be leaving colleges and universities in the next two to three years - will want to know is: can it really work?

The country relies increasingly on the strengths of its exports as its growth engine but the eurozone crisis, in particular, is weighing on the previously stellar performance of this sector. The concern for most Irish businesses and their employees who depend on the domestic economy for their livelihood is what can this ambitious new plan for jobs do to help struggling SMEs and can it help revive flagging consumer demand which is crucial to our country's recovery? That will be the real acid test of this blueprint.

Increased mentoring of SMEs by business leaders and multinationals, getting more small companies involved in research and development and incentivising members of the diaspora and other from oversas to come and create jobs in Ireland all sounds great on paper, but can it truly deliver extra jobs in the numbers the government expects?

It should be remembered that while foreign direct investment (FDI) is a crucially important part of the bedrock of Ireland's present and future economic strategy, it should not be forgotten that over 70 per cent of Ireland's workforce is employed is in small and medium-sized enterprises in towns and villages the length and breadth of the country. And many of these companies are struggling to keep their heads above water in this recession, while many others are among the thousands which have been forced to close since the recession began to bite in 2008.

Growing the economy while being pegged back by a painful austerity programme to a point where employment levels are back at the two million level by 2020 looks like a big ask. There is no significant budget attached to the plan and there are no stated penalties for ministers who fail to deliver on their pledges, despite promises to be accountable. But the proposals are at least aimed in the right direction - to create the conditions that will allow businesses to develop and grow.