Aoife contender for Fergie seat
FIANNA Fail’s Aoife Byrne has confirmed she is to contest the forthcoming Wexford District convention to fill the seat left vacant by the tragic death of Councillor Fergie Kehoe.
Ms Byrne, who contested this year’s general election for Fianna Fail in Wexford, is likely to be up against former senator and practising solicitor Lisa McDonald, Fergie’s brother Sean, Billy Morris, from John Street, Michael Cogley, from Murrintown, and Fergie’s widow Frances, from Mannix Place.
Should she secure the seat on the council, Aoife said she hopes to tackle some of the main issues affecting Wexford.
‘I plan to address the numerous issues including the unemployment rate which is at an unacceptably high level. We are the third most disadvantaged in the country,’ she said. ‘I think CEO of Wexford County Council Tom Enright has great visions for the county and district. When Trinity Wharf is complete, that will bring a lot of top quality employment for Wexford.’
A Wexford-based university for the southeast, tackling Wexford’s high crime rate and the mental health issue would be her other main priorities for Wexford, she said.
‘All of these issues are interlinked,’ she said. ‘We have been great at making plans and rewriting them. It’s time to implement them’
‘I don’t think any of these could be dealt with in isolation and it’s not going to happen overnight.’
When asked how she views her chances of winning the seat, Aoife said she is feeling confident.
‘You don’t ever know what is going to happen as I learned in the General Election but I am very confident. We won’t really know until the votes come in.’
Aoife Byrne is the daughter of Hugh Byrne, the former Fianna Fail TD who represented the Wexford Constituency in the Dail for a total of 18 years.;