*Matthew Moroney (IND). Photograph: John Mangan
REVERSING the decision to close down the accident and emergency unit at Ennis Hospital is no longer an option, Matthew Moroney (IND) has declared.
Since the 2009 decision to downgrade Ennis from a model three hospital resulting in the closure of its accident and emergency department, promises have been par for the course in election literature from candidates in Clare for the last three General Elections.
Broadford native, Matthew Moroney (IND) has nailed it to the mast as his red flag issue. “I’ve been looking at models of Kerry, Tipperary, different counties where they have where there is a good few independents, and we don’t see any health care crisis in those counties nothing to the state that we have here in in with UHL in Limerick and all that. I think I think that’s down to the strength of independents and that’s what I I’d like to see this model brought into play. I’d be all for the more independents, the better, in my opinion for this election”.
An insufficient amount of lobbying of the Taoiseach’s office has kept Ennis Hospital off the agenda, he claimed. “I think that the office of the Taoiseach should have been lobbied, for ages back and all so they could reverse the decision that was made to close down the A&Es in Ennis and indeed Nenagh because it also affects the people of Killaloe, O’Briensbridge and Bridgetown, it would be easier for them to go to Nenagh whereas the people of Westbury or Clonlara would rather go to the likes of St John’s which is in the road for them but go back to West Clare to Kilrush or North Clare to Doolin, they would want come to Ennis but Galway seems the only option to them at the moment”.
He told The Clare Echo, “I won’t stay quiet until this is reversed, that’s my view on this, this is why I’m so strong and so passionate about going, I’m not going to take no for an answer on this. Obviously, I haven’t been in Dáil Éireann before so there is bits and pieces that I will have to learn, there is legislation that will have to be got around but I honestly believe there is no task impossible, I noticed that myself when I was working in the car-trade, I was a self-trained mechanic, a can’t tell you what’s wrong with it, but you will find a solution to fix the problem, I think that’s what it was about, it is sitting down, taking a proper look at things and a simplified approach rather than going into the big, details of the technicalities, set out the stall that you want to work and then find a way around”.
As part of the fight to try reopen an A&E in Ennis, Moroney declared, “I’m willing to do whatever it takes”. He added, “I feel as an independent, if your if your vote is needed on certain things, at least you can you can set out your agenda, what you want from your county”.
He explained what is entailed in the ‘whatever it takes’ plan, “funding has to be, prioritised and put into this project, I’ve seen an awful lot, we’ve spent billions spent in the county in the last couple of years all for great projects, don’t get me wrong but I think it’s time that health took priority. It’s great to see a new pitch opening and a new building going up for, you know, whatever it maybe but the reality of it is that people’s health should take priority over all these things and I think there isn’t a person in the county that wouldn’t agree with that”.
Moroney did not believe a Clare TD in Government would have a better chance of succeeding in a quest to improve services at Ennis Hospital. “Most TDs are in parties, they have to tow the party line, we’ve seen that in the two previous governments, that is why the hospital is still where it is, they haven’t reversed the decision that was made by the then Minister for Health, we’ve had successive Taoisigh who haven’t made any changes to it, the TDs we’ve elected didn’t make any changes to it, it’s time more has to be done, I’ve been hearing it for the last ten years, we know more needs to be done, that seems to be the common phrase, and it’s not been done, and it’s coming out again at this election, we know more needs to be done and I can guarantee you if the same thing goes on again, we’ll be hearing it for the next election as well”.
Five years ago, Michael McNamara (IND) also put health to the forefront of his campaign. When asked how Moroney could achieve where the Scariff barrister hadn’t, he responded, “I don’t have all the answers, you know, and let’s be honest with you. I don’t have all the answers. I have set it out in my head, my plan for what I want to do, and that’s exactly what I will be doing if I get to Dublin. Now I know there’s going to be different ways of coming around it, but I have I have a clear focus of what I want to achieve at the end of it. Whatever way I could get around it, I will get around it and that’s my promise to the people of Clare”.
Farming since he was a child, Matthew has been working in the Arrabawn Co-Op in Bridgetown for the past four years. He previously worked as a butcher in Broadford, with local contractors and had a car sales business based out of Broadford which ran until the onset of COVID-19.
He secured 860 votes when running for Independent Ireland in the Killaloe Municipal District for the local elections. On what he has done build his profile since, he stated, “I took time to myself. I didn’t I started talking to people in my locality, people where I work, I’m dealing with the public every day and they’ve all said that I should go for this and they said that they we’re all going to be behind me this time”.
“There was certain aspects were put out the last time that that I didn’t have any chance as a first time candidate and at the time I was running with Independent Ireland which was very new at the time and they were giving them no chance and giving me no chance and they got that message out to a lot of doors and obviously people like to back a winner but I still turned up, I got 860 first preference votes and with transfers I ended up on 1,335 votes, I believe some candidates in other parts of the county got elected with less votes than that so I think I put in a fair showing in the local elections, I narrowly missed out”.
He previously described it as “tricky” to go up against five sitting councillors in East Clare but this campaign will be tougher, he acknowledged. “For local elections people vote for people they know and vote for candidates that might be from a different political land, it doesn’t have to be Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael or Independent, I think the General Election is different, I think people are more focused on whether they are going to go for a party or an independent”.
Moroney added, “There is some big names in there, there’s no doubt. It is a crowded field, but I think judging by the canvassing and judging by the response from people on the doors, you know, they want change, they really, really want to change because of the big issues like the hospital, the cost of living and house, they are the top three priorities on the doorstep, I think people want change and I think if they come out on the day and vote there will be change, we saw it with the recent referendum, they came out and they voted, they voiced their opinion, and they got the result they wanted and there’s no difference in this in this election, if they want change then they will vote for it and at the end of the day it’s totally up to the people of Clare”.
Getting elected to Dáil Éireann is his sole target, “I’m very very focused. I don’t want to give a figure to say that I want to hit this amount or the other amount. I don’t care if it’s the first seat or the fourth seat, it doesn’t matter once you get there. Even if I don’t get there, I have myself put out there, and I won’t be going away. I’m not going to let us deter me and fade back into the to the background and not be seen and be or be heard, I will still continue with the community alert and doing everything I can to help anyone I can”.
