From hitting rock bottom to running for election
A KILLORGLIN man who has thrown his hat in the ring for this summer’s local elections has said that hitting “rock bottom” has helped him better understand the issues facing society today, and he wants to use that experience to make his community a better place.
Podge Foley (45) intends to run for a seat in the Kenmare Local Electoral Area (LEA) when the local elections take place on June 7. He was raised in Killorglin and lives there today, and he is heavily involved in voluntary work, be it with Laune Rangers GAA through coaching and other roles; and as chairperson of the local Tidy Towns committee.
He said he has been closely involved with community life for about 25 years but this has intensified over the last decade.
“In my own lifetime, I’ve fallen down myself. I’ve gone bankrupt, I had to go off the alcohol, I’ve hit rock bottom,” he told The Kerryman.
“But in that, I’ve woken up a good bit. To know what’s going on in society, you have to hit rock bottom. I now devote my time to helping others, and that helps me too. I went down a bad road, my house was repossessed, the one thing I didn’t lose was the friends I have.
“I think that money and success are drilled into people, people forget what life is about, being content and being happy, and we don’t need very much for that to happen, we just need a community to stick together. I couldn’t do anything without the community behind me.”
Mr Foley pointed to a high number of business closures in Killorglin over the last year as partly responsible for his decision to run, and he hit out at the Council as he feels too much of its investment centres on Killarney.
He said he has decided to run as an independent as he does not wish to follow a party line should he feel it goes against Killorglin and its surrounds’ best interests.
“I know going as an independent will put me at a massive disadvantage, I don’t have the money for a flashy campaign or a big team behind me, but people who know me, I hope they come out and support me and know I have their best interests at heart,” he said.
“So many people are struggling, and they don’t even come on to the radar, we have so many problems in society today that aren’t even talked about. Over the last 10 years, even working people are struggling to pay the bills, and we’ve become hostage to bills, tax. Life has become tough, and the level of poverty even among working people is obscene.
“Even people who want to make a go of things, if you were a young person and you want to set up a business, you’ve to go against the grain straight away, and people are discouraged; I want to encourage them.”