Mary O’Rourke launches All-Ireland hurler Garry’s election campaign
FORMER Government Minister Mary O’Rourke arrived in a packed Marty B’s in Killurin to launch the local election campaign of All-Ireland winning hurler Garry Laffan of Glynn who is running as a Fianna Fail candidate in the Wexford electoral area.
Garry who was a member of the 1996 Wexford hurling team, has had a life-long interest in politics.
He is secretary of Glynn Fianna Fail cumann, joint secretary of Wexford Comhairle Ceantar and a County Board representative for Glynn Barntown GAA Club. As a sportsman, he has represented Wexford in all underage grades of hurling and football and senior hurling.
‘It was a great honour to have been approached by the party and by many people outside of Fianna Fail, with a view to contesting the upcoming election. That is what gave me the encouragement to stand. It is a new challenge for me but one I am looking forward to embracing’, he said.
Garry has lived in Wexford all his life and has worked locally since leaving the Defence Forces in 2000. A carpenter by trade, he completed a BSc in Energy Management (Buildings) in 2016. He is married to Catherine and they have two children, Maria and Aidan.
Among the issues high on his agenda are mental health, roads, tourism, education, rural broadband, housing and planning. He would like to see investment in Curracloe beach and the infrastructure required to make it a top destination in Ireland.
He believes a new secondary school is needed in Wexford so that all children have the opportunity to attend a school of their choice and also supports a new Third Level Campus in Wexford town.
He is calling for rural sewage treatment systems in villages to enhance planning opportunities and re-invigorate communities and wants new businesses in Wexford town to be given a Step Back rates package during the first three years to regenerate the town centre.
‘It would be a privilege to represent the people of Wexford again if I am fortunate enough to be elected on May 24’, he said.