Successful GAA manager lining out for Labour Party in local election race
LABOUR has announced Ravensdale native, Jamie O’Hare as its candidate for the Dundalk and Carlingford area in the upcoming Local Elections.
Jamie is a school-teacher and a prominent figure in the Ravensdale community and is born and bred in the region with life-long ties to the local GAA scene.
In 2022, Jamie’s leadership skills shone through as he took on the management of Roche Emmet’s men’s team, leading them to an historic Intermediate Championship victory, the following year.
He also won several senior championship and league titles as a player with his own club St Patrick’s.
He says it is the values he encountered on the field of play that led him to the Labour Party: “Being involved with teams whose values are hard work, dedication and complete solidarity with one another, has been one of the most profound experiences of my life.
“I believe society as a whole would benefit form these values and that is why I am a member of the Labour Party.”
The new Labour candidate has a deep and abiding interest in human rights which ultimately led him to an involvement in the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
Laying out his stall for the election campaign, Jamie has a few key issues he wants to focus on.
He explained: “I’m lucky enough to have been able to build a home and settle in the area I grew up in but that same privilege is being denied to young families in the area who are being forced to move to more urban settings because of overly restrictive planning laws.
“Without young families in the area, numbers in some rural schools are falling and we are heading towards empty classrooms while schools in urban areas are forced to build expensive extensions to cope with the influx of people there – it just doesn’t make sense.
“Families willing to build environmentally sustainable homes in our area should be allowed to do so and preventing them makes no sense in the midst of a housing crisis.”
Jamie added: “Another critical objective I have, should I be fortunate enough to win a seat on Louth County Council, is to advocate for the locating of an ambulance station on the Cooley Peninsula.
“Currently, we are, in theory, about 40 minutes away from the nearest A&E in Drogheda, although in practice, it is much longer than that. This is putting lives at risk and in the absence of the reopening of Louth County Hospital, an ambulance station would at least improve response times in emergencies.”
Road safety is another issue that occupies the mind of the new Labour candidate in Dundalk and Carlingford. Jamie says that road surfaces in rural and urban parts of the area need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Jamie’s candidacy will be confirmed at a selection convention later this month and the new candidate can’t wait to get started on the campaign.
He said: “I’m running in these elections to get things done and I promise everyone who votes for me, I will dedicate myself with passion and energy to representing the people of Dundalk and Carlingford, in the best way I can.”