‘ Why this committee and my role in it matters’

WHEN Fianna Fail Councillor Jerry Lundy was asked by his party leader Michael Martin TD to become a member of the Committee for the Regions a few years ago, he ‘ jumped at the chance.’

He sees the role as vitally important and the fact that he has to spend up to 22 days a year in meetings abroad does not deter him.

“It is an honour to represent my local region and the people of South Sligo and the North West at this level,” he says.

He explains that the crucial thing about members of this committee is that they are all drawing from local and regional knowledge and this local knowledge can be taken first hand and input into the process of making policy which ultimately can lead to changing lives for the better at local level.

He believes the Committee for the Regions is a voice for the person on the ground. “We raise your concerns and we make sure those concerns are put on the agenda and into the political discourse,” he says.

Jerry’s input into the Committee for Natural Resources takes time and effort but he says “it is all well worth it.”