Tánaiste opens new office in Kanturk for FG election candidate John Paul O’Shea
NORTH Cork Fine Gael councillor and general election candidate for Cork North West Councillor John Paul O’Shea officially opened his new constituency office on Strand Street in Kanturk on Monday morning.
An Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade, Simon Coveney TD, was present to cut the ribbon and was among the first to congratulate his party colleague on his new constituency office. Tanaiste Coveney highlighted his faith in Cllr O’Shea, describing him as a ‘fantastic candidate’ for Fine Gael ahead of the next general election, and said that Cllr O’Shea has “the talent, the drive and the ability” to become an important part of the next Dail.
Cllr O’Shea and Tanaiste Coveney were joined by a large number of supporters which included Cllr Gerard Murphy and former TD for Cork North West Frank Crowley. Speaking on Monday, Cllr O’Shea said his constituency office is open to everyone within the Mallow/Kanturk Municipal District and the Cork North West constituency.
He said it is crucially important to work together for the benefit of Kanturk and the people living in North Cork. “I think the Government, since returning to office in 2016, has done extremely well to combat a lot of the economic uncertainties that we have seen and to bring this country back to almost full employment, and make sure that we have a government that does the best for the people right across this country. So it’s all really important that we work together to make sure that this continues into the future,” he said.
Speaking to the crowd outside Cllr O’Shea’s new constituency office, Tanaiste Coveney said he wanted to attend the official opening for a number of reasons. As well as having family connections in Kanturk, he said “we also have political business to do here to put right the loss of a seat in the last general election.”
He said Fine Gael in government is working to build a stronger country for everyone and that Cllr O’Shea’s election as a TD will play an important role in that. “I have to say that a combination of John Paul O’Shea and Minister Michael Creed is a very dynamic combination going into the next general election,” said Minister Coveney.
He encouraged Cork North West constituents to elect Cllr O’Shea to represent them in the next Dail and allow Fine Gael to continue the work it has being doing since 2011. “We’re trying to build something stronger, we’re trying to ensure that we get out of this cycle of boom and bust, which populist politics in Ireland has led to, over and over again. We’ve fixed it now and we’re going to stay in charge to make sure it doesn’t get broken again and that is what electing John Paul O’Shea is all about. Yes it’s about him and his personality and his drive, his family and his success in politics to date, being extended now into the Dail from Cork County Council,” he said.