‘Time to deliver’ Minister
NORTH KERRY CALLS ON NEW MINISTER TO DELIVER FOR REGION
THE people of North Kerry say they are counting on newly appointed Minister Norma Foley to ensure the Government delivers on its promise of a stimulus package for the region within three months.
While Kerry rejoices in the surprise elevation of the hugely-popular teacher to a senior role in cabinet, the response along the Landbank has been muted by the blow dealt the LNG project under the programme for government she supported – despite her best efforts behind the scenes of the negotiations to ensure it retained State backing.
Residents of the greater landbank area expressed their confidence in the assurances Minister Foley gave them at a meeting in Ballylongford days before her promotion and said her role will be crucial to their future, however.
“We wish to congratulate Minister Norma Foley on her appointment as Minister for Education and wish her the very best of luck in that role.
“We know she will keep all parties to account and honour their pledges to have something established within three months’ time, to come up with some positive ideas and some flesh on the bone for this area,” John Fox of the Tarbert Development Association said.
Former Minister Jimmy Deenihan believes the programme for Government represents a golden opportunity for the region – promising as it does to prioritise North Kerry for economic development in the wake of the LNG sacrifice.
However, the best means of achieving its objectives lie in the people themselves, according to Kerry Group founder and Limerick 2030 task force chair Denis Brosnan.
He told The Kerryman this week he believes the establishment of a fresh task force is critical to the future of the region; and that the presence of a local senior cabinet member could make all the difference.
Minsiter Foley told The Kerryman the county remains very much part of her brief: “Well I’m a Minister from Kerry and I was elected by the people of Kerry. I will always work to make sure the interests of Kerry and Tralee are heard at cabinet,” she said.
WHAT a difference six months makes. Just last December Norma Foley was balancing her work as a County Councillor for Tralee and a teacher at Presentation Secondary School.
This week the first-time TD finds herself elevated to the most senior ranks of the Cabinet, with responsibility for running Ireland’s education system at the height of an unprecedented health crisis.
From teaching a few hundred Tralee students , Minister Foley is now in charge of a Department that oversees 923,000 students and pupils and 63,000 teachers in 3,929 national and secondary schools across the country.
The pressure of an already taxing job is added to, almost immeasurably, by the impact and the ongoing fallout of the COVID-19 crisis.
While every Government Department faces major challenges, Minister Foley will be one of the busiest cabinet members in the weeks and months ahead.
Not only must she manage the day-to-day running of a department with an €11.1 billion budget – one with an often-fractious relationship with the trade unions – there is the immediate issue of getting those 3,929 schools after the Coronavirus lock-down.
Minister Foley – whose elevation to Cabinet as a first-time TD surprised many – has no doubts about the scale of the challenge ahead, but she said is ready to meet it head on.
“It is an absolutely huge challenge, especially getting schools open,” she said.
“I’m very keen that [schools reopening] would happen. But I’m very keen that would happen as a consequence of engagement with all stakeholders and also acting on the very best public-health advice available to us”, she said.
Ms Foley said that her goal as Minister will be to make decisions that have the best possible outcome for the children and young adults that she serves.
“We’re working to recognise and engage with all stakeholders: pupils and students, teachers, parents, secretaries, support staff and everyone in the wider spectrum,” said Minister Foley.
“The key is ensuring the education, welfare, security and safety of all, and we are working collectively towards that.”
As a teacher herself, Minister Foley said she “values the expertise and talent” of teachers, SNAs, principals and deputy principals, but also wants to ensure parents’ voices are heard.
“I see them [teachers and school staff ] as very valuable but equally so I see the parents as valuable and important stakeholders. They too must be engaged with,” she said.
“I bring my own experience coming from a teaching background, and I will make the most of that.”
As to criticism of the lack of Ministers from west of the country, Minister Foley said it is “impossible to place a minister from every county or every region” adding that the announcement of junior Ministries on Wednesday would enhance the geographical spread.
When it comes to her own Ministry, the veteran Tralee politician said she was as surprised as anyone to get the call.
While she was honoured to nominate her party leader Micheál Martin for Taoiseach – the second time she had done so – she did not expect any further twists to her day.
“I was utterly surprised, I had no inclination it was coming,” said Minister Foley.
“At half one I was on Henry Street after doing a little shopping. I was heading back to the Convention Centre with something for dinner when I got the call that the Taoiseach wanted
A 26-year political veteran, Norma Foley was first elected to Tralee Town Council in 1994. A decade later, she won a seat a seat on Kerry County Council at the 2004 Local Elections.
Her lengthy career has seen the former Presentation Secondary School teacher serve as Mayor of Kerry in 2018/2019 in addition to three separate stints as Mayor of Tralee.
The daughter of the late Kerry TD Denis Foley, prior to her Dáil election Minister Foley’s political highpoint came at the 2019 Local Elections when she topped the poll in Tralee.
In February’s General Election – her second to see me,” she said.
With scores of Department and Cabinet meetings and briefings to attend, Minister Foley said the last few days have been “hectic” and “intense” as she gets to grips with her brief; meets her department Secretaries and staff and gets better acquainted with her new cabinet
Dáil bid following an unsuccessful attempt in 2007 – she took the fifth seat at the expense of running mate Deputy John Brassil.
Since entering the Dáil, Minister Foley has clearly been a popular figure in party headquarters and with her leader, Micheál Martin.
On her first day in the Dáil, Deputy Foley was chosen to nominate Mr Martin for the post of Taoiseach, an honour she was afforded again on Saturday. In May, she was also selected as one of four Fianna Fáil deputies to sit on the new Dáil committee formed to examine Ireland’s COVID-19 response. colleagues from among her own party, Fine Gael and the Green Party.
While her focus will and must be on her Ministerial duties, the Tralee TD said she will not forget the people and the communities she was elected to represent.
“Well I’m a Minister from Kerry, and I was elected by the people of Kerry. I will always work to make sure the interests of Kerry and Tralee are heard at cabinet,” she said.
The former Mayor of Kerry said she had been inundated with messages from well wishers since Saturday’s announcement.
“The support has been wonderful and I’ve been inundated with congratulations and best wishes. I think I must have about 999 messages on my phone that I still haven’t got around to replying to,” she said.
Minister Foley’s political mentor was her beloved late father, Denis, and she feels the former Kerry TD will have been looking down proudly when her political career reached a new peak on Saturday afternoon.
“I think he’d be very proud and he’d have been very emotional. He’s on my shoulder, looking on and holding his breath for me.”