Deirdre Clune MEP on campaign trail in Gorey and Enniscorthy
FINE GAEL MEP for Ireland South, Deirdre Clune, visited Gorey and Enniscorthy on Thursday, April 11 and she was joined on the canvassing trail by Cllr Anthony Donohue alongside first time local election candidate, Diarmuid Devereux.
‘ The big challenge for Irish MEPs is the future relationship that we’re going to have with the UK, and that the UK is going to have with Europe,’ said Deirdre.
The message behind Deirdre Clune’s ‘Europe matters’ campaign is that although there is frustration in Europe about Brexit, that Europe must continue to move on and do business and Irish MEPs can keep Ireland central to that process.
‘We need to give Brexit the time that it takes, because history will not be kind to any of us looking back if we force the British out. They have let politics down by their behaviour, but we need to push for keeping them in the tent,’ she said particularly thinking of the Common Agricultural Policy budget.
‘Europe is more important than ever now for Ireland,’ she said explaining that Irish MEPs need to make sure that Irish interests are reflected in the changing landscape of Europe, and so strong voices are needed in parliament to bring issues to the floor.
She added that Brexit is ‘An opportunity for the Irish people to say that’s not for us, we’re staying’.
Looking to Wexford, she said that the upgrading of roads currently ongoing in the county will lead the way to ‘ help connection for Rosslare,’ the port which will have a larger roll to play after Brexit.
‘ They are big improvements, people see that and from that will come investment,’ she said speaking about the roadworks.
‘ The government are committed to that investment,’ she added mentioning land customs and agri-food standards checks.
She spoke about the governments plan for rural Ireland in Ireland 2040, explaining that the big thing will be ‘Attracting investment out of Dublin’ in the hope of counter balancing the demand for housing and jobs.
She explained that industry players will navigate to where there’s a third level college, and that is of vital importance for the South of Ireland.
‘We want to see that established, although where it’s placed is yet to be decided, in my view the most important thing now is that it’s established because with that comes so much investment in an area,’ said Deirdre.
She remarked on the benefit having Carlow IT made to the town of Carlow, making it ‘more vibrant’ in attracting young people back to their locality.
Clune was elected to the European parliament in 2014 and she previously served as a Dáil member as well as Seanad Éireann.