Independent Marie Casserly has a lot to show for 10 years on Sligo County Council and wants to prove a lot more with another term

THEY say a day is a long time in politics – one can imagine how long 10 years must feel.

One person who knows what a decade in politics feels like is Cllr Marie Casserly who is running for re-election in the Sligo-Drumcliffe electoral area.

“It has flown by, it doesn't seem like 10 years at all,” Cllr Casserly said, reflecting on her time in the Sligo County Council to date, having been first elected in 2014.

“It has been a rewarding experience and an honour to represent the people of Sligo on so many levels.

“The staff in Sligo County Council are excellent and I have developed great working relationships with many of my fellow councillors.

“The public has also largely been very supportive, they know that if you give your best and deliver it is satisfying for them and yourself and when you can’t always deliver, you want to be able to show your effort.”

In a political world that seems to be increasingly cynical and divisive, Cllr Casserly has been firmly rooted in highlighting not only the best of Sligo, but the best of what it has yet to offer if its potential can be realised. “In 2014 my motto was ‘Sligo is worth fighting for’ and it still is because we can still be forgotten about as a county despite having so much to offer.

“With more support and investment we can achieve a lot more, we have really only scratched the surface and it is great to be involved in a lot of positive projects that is unlocking more of that potential.

“We could do with seeing more strategic investment and fast tracking projects because you have wait for report upon report and deal with red tape which doesn’t need to be there to move on the project, that is where so much frustration comes from when you when you are trying to show more of the potential Sligo has.” Touching on the issues that will be central to a successful re-election, she focused on areas such as housing, healthcare, road and footpath projects as well as being able to represent various groups and initatives at level.

“Housing and healthcare issues are at the forefront for me as the broadest issues. I am also looking to advance roads and footpath projects in Grange and Cliffoney but again, as I outlined previously, it takes so long for these things to progress because you are left waiting on reports and funding.

“I am chair of the Sligo Food Trail and I am also involved with Havin' A Laugh, the Grange Playground Group, Grange Tidy Towns, the Sports Complex, The Armada Society in Grange as well as the national society and I want to continue being a voice for these great groups at a council level.

“On an individual level I also like using my role to help people get the information they want or need whether that be grants, funding, deadlines and so on, I try to get that information for people who may not have access to it or not know where to find it.” There is hardly a day when Marie Casserly isn’t using her time to help her community and Sligo – by her own reckoning, Christmas Day is the only day she doesn’t have her councillor hat on.

She has a list as long as your arm of initiatives and projects she is involved in progressing and it says it all when the following could be considered an abridged version: Organising the provision of masks and scrubs during Covid made by locals; Bolt bikes; Staying alive at 1.5m; Sligo-Bellaghy Greenway; Keeping pressure on provision of new Garda station in Caltragh; Improving the Sligo to Dublin rail line; resurfacing of the car park in

Mullaghmore; Disability access to Mullaghmore beach; Disability access picnic benches throughout the county; serving on the original Sligo Rovers Women’s committee; lobbying for funding for works on the N17 and N15; Speed surveys in Rathcormac, Grange and Cliffoney; Lobbying for pedestrian crossings in Ballisodare and Cliffoney; Improving water infrastructure in north Sligo.

Casserly said improving Sligo can’t be based on being more like the big cities of Ireland as the reality of funding is different.

Instead, Sligo has its own identity and can stand on its two feet to deliver projects, but it needs a fairer slice of funding to unlock its potential.

“We aren’t Galway. We aren’t Cork. We aren’t Limerick. We aren’t Dublin. We don’t get massive financial support from companies, it is far easier for those cities to provide match funding for their projects and attract more business as a result.

“We don’t look for handouts or expect others to do the work for us, we have the staff and the expertise in Sligo to deliver great projects, we just need more access to funding to make it possible.

“We aren’t those big cities, Sligo has its own identity we should be proud of and we need to keep showcasing what we are and what we can be.”

The outgoing councillor said her drive to help people is as strong as ever and without party support behind her she needs and appreciates every single vote she gets as it enables many of these aforementioned groups and initiatives to have a voice at council level. “I keep doing work day-to-day and help people as much as I can.

“People don't expect miracles, people expect you to give your best and if you can deliver as a result of that effort, it is an immensely rewarding feeling when you see the results of how you have been able to help that person, it makes it all worth it.

“If people want me to represent them, I ask for their number one vote, being an Independent I don’t have the party machine behind me, I have community behind me and I need that immense support to be returned for another term.

“It is the only way I can continue representing them.

“Every single vote counts and is appreciated.”