THE ELECTION MARATHON
DEPUTY MALCOLM BYRNE’S NAME HAS BEEN ON A BALLOT PAPER FOUR TIMES IN THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS BUT HE SAYS HE’S AS DETERMINED AS EVER IN THIS INTERVIEW BY
BETWEEN European and local elections, a by-election and now the forthcoming General Election, Fianna Fáil TD, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, has had his name on a ballot sheet four times within eight months which must represent some kind of record.
In truth he hasn’t had long to adjust to life in Dáil Éireann which he acknowledged when this newspaper met him for coffee in the Upton Court Hotel in Kilmuckridge.
‘It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster and I suppose I would have liked a bit more time to prove myself to the people of Wexford but we are where we are and hopefully I’ve done enough to warrant them re-electing me,’ he said.
‘I honestly thought that I might have got a bit longer, that we might have got until April so that I could have put systems in place to manage all of this, so when the election was called it almost felt like I was jumping off a cliff and making the aeroplane as I was going down.’
In his usual friendly and jovial mood he was preparing to go out on the canvas trail, after our meeting, with members of a team that he is very appreciative of in terms of how they support him and his work.
His time in the Dáil has been brief - he got elected in the by-election on November 29 - and he freely admitted that seven weeks was not enough time to make a serious impact in the Dáil, however, in that time he has spoken extensively on a range of issues.
‘It was mad really, because I got elected on the Saturday and was in the Dáil the following Tuesday morning taking up my seat,’ he said.
‘You’re trying to deal with life, with the normal queries that were coming in [and] trying to look at policy issues, that were [also] national policy issues, and also adjusting to the new position I was in including setting up a constituency office,’ he added.
While there are crucial national issues around housing, health, agriculture and education to be dealt with Deputy Browne also has some key issues in his mind in relation to Wexford that he would like to get the chance to focus on in the Dáil.
‘ There are some Wexford specific issues that we need to address and I think school places is a serious one - especially in Gorey and Wexford town,’ he said.
‘I believe a child should have the right to a school place in their own area,’ he added.
Child and adolescent mental health services is another area that he feels needs a lot of work because access to such services ‘doesn’t exist here’.
‘We don’t have a consultant psychiatrist, there haven’t been support services in place and I know from dealing with lots of families who have mental health difficulties that this is a problem,’ he said.
Rosslare Europort and the Rosslare rail line are other things that he would like to exploit their maximum potential.
‘Rosslare Europort is a gem that has not been realise to its full potential,’ he said.
‘If we are to get people out of their cars for environmental reasons we have to have a realistic alternative and I think we have an ideal opportunity to do that with the Rosslare rail line,’ he added.
Away from the political arena Deputy Byrne, by his own admission, has had a ‘ potted career’.
Very well educated, he went to school in Gorey, studied law in UCD and subsequently arbitration.
He also has a Masters degree in governance from Queen’s University in Belfast.
Unlike a lot of other Irish politicians Deputy Byrne, who is the eldest of five children, doesn’t come from a political family.
His father worked as road overseer with Wexford County Council and his mother used to manage the pre-school unit in St Aidan’s Services in Gorey.
‘I have a brother in Canada, a sister in Spain and my two youngest sisters are here in Ireland,’ he said.
One of his sisters lives in Gorey while the other currently resides in Galway.
Deputy Byrne has two sets of triplet cousins, on both sides of his family, which he admits is ‘probably somewhat unusual’.
Known for his involvement in education and youth work, it was that type of work that got him involved in politics in the first place.
‘I suppose I’ve somewhat of an eclectic career,’ he said.
That career has seen him work for the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, become the first Commercial Manager with MyHome.ie, and take up the role of Chief Executive Officer with Community Games.
For the last 12 years he’s been Head of Communications with the Higher Education Authority; he took a career break since being elected to Dáil Éireann.
‘My plan will be to resign that post if I am re-elected,’ he said.
While there has been justifiable criticism of certain politicians retaining their private career positions while spending time in Dáil Éireann it’s something that Deputy Byrne does not plan to do and he feels that it’s only proper and right to resign his position if he gets re-elected.
While he doesn’t always agree with the viewpoint of his political opponents he admits to having ‘ huge respect for anyone who puts their names on a ballot paper’.
Deputy Byrne has had a long involvement with the arts in county Wexford and in particular drama, musicals, and pantomimes.
He is a director of the Gorey School of Arts and he has a strong interest in visual arts.
‘I have a real interest in nearly all forms of music and arts,’ he said.
‘I think that’s something in Wexford that we are really strong at is the arts,’ he added
‘It’s one of our strongest selling points as a county and we often don’t boast about it enough.’
Deputy Byrne also feels the power of the creative industry is something that is often unappreciated or at least underestimated.
‘We tend to look at the arts and music from the point of view they are personally fulfilling but there is also a huge economic benefit from that sector,’ he said.
He also agrees that there is enormous benefit to be had in the area of mental health from the arts sector.
‘I have met with community arts organisations from all around the county who do great work bringing communities together,’ he said.
When it comes to listening to music and enjoying it in downtime his taste is quite eclectic.
Most people who are actively involved in the creative arts have broad tastes and that’s the case with Deputy Byrne who listens to a wide range of music depending on his mood.
‘I listen to most stuff from opera to cheesy pop but it really does depend on what mood I am in,’ he said.
‘Whether it’s Beethoven or the Beatles I am happy to listen to it.’
Deputy Byrne is also enthusiastic about health and fitness and despite competing in his first marathon when he was 33 - which some people might consider as a marginally late starting age - he has, in the interim, completed no less than 30 full length marathons.
‘Running has no age barrier and there are people well into their 70s or 80s who are out running and that’s great,’ he said.
However, he jovially admitted that his skills on the sports field in general in terms of hurling, football or soccer ‘would have been fairly limited’.
‘I would have been involved in setting up the Park Run in Gorey and running is really good for mental health as well,’ he said.
In terms of books and literature Deputy Byrne is a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell and tends to read a lot of non-fiction.
The book he is currently reading, and which is very apt considering the position he finds himself in at the moment, is titled ‘ Talking to Strangers’.
‘I suppose for the odd bit of escapism, I am fan of John Grisham,’ he said.
‘Books are meant to challenge; that’s a very good thing,’ he added.
While the public face of Deputy Malcolm Byrne is very well known and, it has to be acknowledged, very well respected, the fact that he is an avid Star Wars fan is something that a lot of people might not know.
‘I was a big Star Wars fan as a kid,’ he said.
‘Actually, the last film I saw was the last Star Wars film about the rise of Luke Skywalker,’ he added.
‘It’s great escapism; I like the cinema and anything that provides escapism is always good.’
Like many people Deputy Byrne enjoys travelling however, and perhaps indicative of his passionate interest in the arts, his destinations have brought him to locations that are not necessarily on the top of everyone’s average tourism brochure.
‘I have visited places like North Korea, Greenland, Armenia, Georgia and I was involved in a project in Armenia which was about helping to develop local government structures there,’ he said.
He found North Korea very interesting and one of the things that struck him as being most significant about the country is that ‘it really is the hermit Kingdom’.
‘ They are so cut off from the