The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Donald Trump, Greta Thunberg and plastic wrapping...
“THE amount of plastic used to wrap fruit and vegetables these days is bananas,” said one voter on the doorstep.
There’s a genuine air of curiosity about Green Party candidate Cleo Murphy and what her party has to offer in this election. Canvassing the leafy suburbs of Oakpark, Tralee, on an unseasonably warm January afternoon raises the obvious icebreaker: ‘a positive side-effect of climate change?’ I ask. Sensing the irony, Cleo replies: “a short term upswing, maybe.”
On a week when Na Gaeil is in an All-Ireland Junior Club Final in Croke Park – and green flags hang from every poll and car window – it might seem an easy task selling a ‘green’ agenda. But while Cleo knows there is work to be done if she’s to get elected, at least the hardcore evidence of the damage caused by climate change no longer needs to be sold to voters the way it used to.
“Everyone can see what’s happening around them now,” Cleo says. “The terrible fires in Australia and the damage caused by climate change is there for all to see. People are very enthusiastic about this and what they can do about it,” says the Kenmare native.
At the first door Cleo knocks on she gets a positive response. “We need to make a change alright, either this year or next year,” the voter says. But when Cleo tells him the environment doesn’t have time, he replies: “Well, Donald Trump seems to think we do.”
At the next door, Cleo receives her first hug of the hustings from a woman who tells her, ‘the very best of luck; I think it is time we all did something on the environment.”
A former member of the Green Party National Executive, Cleo polled over 600 votes in the 2019 local election in the Kenmare district. She’s interested to see how she’ll get on in a wider geographical spread this time round.
She feels the lack of a Labour Party candidate in Kerry might help her chances. The decision by Cllr Michael Gleeson not to contest may also help. Cllr Gleeson is very strong on environmental issues, and Cleo hopes some of these votes might fall her way.
She tells me health and transport are the two main topics of concern with voters on the doorstep. Crossing over the busy road next to the Meadowlands Hotel, it’s hard to hear ourselves talk over the traffic noise. A perfect prompt for my next question: how do Cleo and the Greens plan to entice drivers out of their cars?
“I think having a proper public transport system in place would ease the problem. It would relieve the emissions problem and relieve traffic congestion that affects every town and village. We need to offer a state-of-the-art public transport system. When this is in place it gives those who really do need to use their cars more space on the roads.”
We’re joined on the canvass by Paul Bowler, Green Party Area Representative in Listowel; and 2019 local election Green Party candidate, Anne-Marie Fuller. Anne brings her two children along, Alva and Orla, who are only too eager to start doling out their ‘Vote 1. Cleo Murphy’ pamphlets.
The children are also a subtle reminder of the Green Party’s core objective: easing catastrophic climate change on the next generation.
At our next doorstep, Cleo gets another positive response. “I’m kind of conscious about all this Green stuff since Greta [Thunberg]. I think it’s time ye guys started doing something about it,” the voter says.
At the next door an elderly woman with a walking stick says it would be great to elect a woman.
“I’m waiting for Michael Healy-Rae to call so I can hit him with this,” she jokes, waving her stick and laughing.
Rounding the corner by Ard Na Lí an expanse of beautiful green grassland opens out before us. Cleo parts with an idea. “Wouldn’t it be absolutely lovely if that area was entirely covered in trees?” she says.
“Think how good it would be for the environment? I used to think years ago that having manicured lawns and gardens was the way to do it, but it isn’t really. Sometimes there is more beauty in wild areas.”
A woman walking her dog brings up animal rights, puppy farms, coursing and stag hunting. “Animals don’t have a voice,” she tells Cleo. “They have us to speak on their behalf. I’d be big on this issue and animal welfare in general.” She walks away holding Cleo’s election pamphlet saying, “I’ll definitely think about it.”
Most of the other voters we meet offer the line, ‘I’ll give you something’. One person even tells Cleo that her party is too ‘Dublin based’ to which Cleo replies: “Well, I’m here standing on your doorstep today.” The voter then enters into a deep discussion with Cleo about recycling. In the past such conversations at general election time would have been unthinkable. But not anymore. Things are changing and voters are engaging more with their feelings on the environment.
One resident kindly warns us not to canvass the opposite side of the street as there’s a funeral going on. “Stay away from there today. I’ll think about voting Green,” she says.
We turn for home where the Ard Na Lí estate meets Lisbeg estate. It’s not easy to define a precise boundary point at which the two housing estates intersect. But the name plaques mounted next to each other on the wall, separated by a crack, do just that.
“I think that’s a uniquely Irish image,” says Cleo. “It’s gas to think that’s where one place ends and another place starts.”
Back at the Meadowlands Hotel, Cleo and her team offer quick goodbyes as it’s on to Listowel next. Overall, the general consensus within this tiny enclave of Tralee is that the electorate are no longer dismissive of Green Party policy. A genuine curiosity now pervades. Whether the Green Party can capitalise on this remains to be seen. Cleo is given the last word.
“For me it’s doorsteps and more doorsteps. I need to let people know what we stand for.”