Marie seeks third term and intends sticking with no poster rule to do so

She’s the only female member of the outgoing County Council that is seeking re-election but North Sligo’s Marie Casserly won’t be relying on posters to get her back to County Hall.

Seeking her third term as councillor for the Sligo-Drumcliffe electoral area Cllr Casserly says posters aren’t necessary for people to know the candidates.

She believes that with all the means of communication available, posters are not necessary, and it is also bad for the environment.

She said:“When I first decided to contest the local elections in 2014, I was not very well known, neither was I a member of any party.

“People said not putting out posters would be a disadvantage for new and lesser-known candidates, but I came third in my electoral area. Then I got elected again in 2019, without posters.

“A lot of timber and huge quantities of water goes into the making of posters and people say it’s only for a month but we don’t know what will happen to them afterwards whether they would be recycled and how would they be recycled.

“Although my decision to not put up posters is not solely due to environmental concerns, I think that it is also unfair to the independent candidates who are up against the political parties with better finances.

“I believe that there should be a designated area for posters in each town, like they do in other European cities.”

Cllr Casserly is also involved with Grange Tidy Towns and she doesn’t want to act opposite to what she is asking from the public.

“I can’t see myself asking the public to keep the streets clean and then not follow it myself.

“Thousands of posters are put up during elections and sometimes they might not be taken down or plastic ties would be left behind on the poles.

“Back in the day when there were no other means of communication, posters were probably effective but now with the availability of media and social media that we all have access to, posters are unnecessary.

“I think we have moved on from election posters.

“Many tidy towns groups have asked for candidates not to put up posters, but that hasn’t been listened to.

“The national tidy towns competition is coming up in June which the various local committees are work so hard towards.”

Cllr Casserly is also the only female representative on the council who is seeking a re-election.

This follows the decision of Sinead Maguire and Rosaleen O’Grady not to seek re-election.

Cllr Casserly believes that there are many women who are already working in different ways for the community, but that they don’t want to get involved in politics.

“I don’t blame them because they think they are not qualified or overqualified for the job, but it’s just about confidence.

“We need people who are working in the communities already and are interested in improving services, improving the community and we should concentrate on them.

“I wouldn’t want anyone to vote for a woman just for the sake of voting for a woman and the same goes for the men.

“Instead, I would vote for a candidate who has a good track record in the community, who is passionate about making our communities better.

“If they are involved in anything that improves the community, then I think they are worthy enough to represent their communities, because they are doing it already.

“They understand the issues at ground level, and I think they would be able to help others in serving the community.”

Talking about her focus areas and agenda for the election, Grange based Cllr Casserly says that she wants to make Sligo a place where people would want to settle and raise a family.

“I would like to carry on the projects that we are working on, and I also want to keep working on improving the infrastructure for residents of villages and towns. I am passionate about Sligo, and I want our next generation to have a Sligo that they are proud of, and they want to live and work in.

“I also want them to have an option that if they travel, there is always a choice for them to come home if they want to.

“We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and we deserve to have the same facilities and infrastructure as everybody else in other counties.

“We have an educated workforce, and we can attract companies to come and set up here if we make it attractive for the workers to come and stay here.

“People want to build houses and live in the community that they grew up in.

“They want their kids to go to the local school that they went to and play for the local soccer and football clubs.

“Infrastructure and investment are the key to building communities, and by investing in cities and towns outside of Dublin, we would be able to rebalance the population that’s centered on the capital.

“We are lucky in Sligo that we have a dedicated food trail, vibrant arts and music and we also have the history and heritage.

“I think with a little more investment in transportation and infrastructure, Sligo is just a perfect place to live.

“This is all that I am working for and advocating for.”