*Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) and Cllr Shane Talty (FF).
BIDDING TO win back his status as a TD is Senator Timmy Dooley (FF) who has mounted a very strong election campaign.
In Lahinch on Friday evening, the snow had disappeared from North Clare and in its place arrived Senator Dooley.
It’s been a campaign where it’s hard to miss Dooley, there’s his massive signs at different locations in the county, some of which have been defaced and his artillery is also strengthened by a Dooley van which is perched at the Liscannor Cross while he heads off on the canvass. When it comes to GE24, few have bettered the Mountshannon native on product placement.
Accompanied by Cllr Shane Talty (FF) and Liam Hayes, the son of Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), Dooley doesn’t dilly dally and benefits from the local knowledge of Cllr Talty who is able to tell him if they are “one of ours” before arriving at any door, ours being code for Fianna Fáil supporters and not Ennistymon footballers to clarify.
Talty’s presence also alerts the Senator as to what various issues have been raised by the certain householders and the actions taken. Among them have been wastewater, the absence of an adequate wastewater treatment plant stops any new future housing developments in Lahinch.
Planning issues and the struggle to build houses on the N85 are also brought to their attention.
For Timmy it is a big election, as big as his 8×4 signs you could say. Having topped the poll in 2016, he suffered the lowpoint of his political career in The Falls Hotel in February 2020 when losing his seat as a TD.
Now, the Clare electorate are deciding whether or not he returns to Dáil Éireann, ironically the first door has a dog at the entrance who goes to sniff Dooley to suss him out, much like what the voters of the county are currently doing without flaring the nostrils.
Behind the door is a woman in her forties who said that “access to healthcare is shocking” as he pointed out it is “a good hour” to University Hospital Limerick from her residence, not the most reassuring distance to travel in case of an emergency. Limited psychiatric care in the region is also a concern brought to his attention and the struggles to retain staff in health services, “we are exporting our best people”. The lack of solutions is a source of annoyance, “it seems like we never had more money as a country”.
Solutions can sometimes be found right under our nose with a nearby property the residence of a medical student who shared that the costs associated with third-level education are still on the rise.
According to Dooley, “UHL is not able to cope with the population and the capacity”. He pointed out that 95 new beds have been added to its stock with 350 due “in the next few years”. The ongoing HIQA review is likely to recommend a model three hospital “close to the motorway network” while he maintained Ennis Hospital needed further bed capacity.
His message to the medical student is, “stay with us when you’re qualified, we need more student nurses and doctors to stay in the system”.
A Lahinch father advises Timmy that he is the first candidate to knock on his door which strengthens his chance of getting the first preference. “I’ve been paying attention, I’ve been watching the debates. The biggest issues is health, I know the cost of living has gone up and housing is an issue too but it doesn’t affect me,” he admitted. He questions Dooley on the prospect of reopening Ennis Hospital and relays his fear that if he gets sick his nearest port of call is to UHL. The cost of the €2.2bn Children’s Hospital underlines “no accountability”.
More patients will be treated in the region with an additional 1,000 staff, Dooley responded. “There are some management issues in Limerick because it is not the worst performing in the country for no reason, there are layers of issues,” he admitted. The addition of new management teams at an administrative and clinical level can help the situation, he believed. “Ennis is a small hospital and a model two, to be safe you have to have multi-disciplinary teams,” he advised. Again he referred to the HIQA review and the efforts that must be undertaken to fight for Clare regarding its recommendations. “It is hard to disagree with you on the Children’s Hospital and I don’t come around giving you false promises or telling you what you want to hear”.
“You have four votes from this house,” declares the father in the next house. “I was dragged into this,” confesses one of his sons while another member of the household points out, “I recognise you from the poster”.
Dinner is interrupted at the house of two Fianna Fáil supporters, they take a temporary break from the spuds to inform Dooley he has their backing. There’s a fright for an elderly couple when they see the bright jackets of Fianna Fáil, not because they’re against the party but rather they initially thought it was the Gardaí calling to pay a visit.
A barking dog keeps Timmy on his toes at the next door, “I hope she’s not as aggressive” is his hope of the homeowner and she isn’t as she admits, “we’ve no real issues, keep going”.
Health again crops up at another door, “we’ve third world services in the Mid-West, management is the problem”, said one woman while highlighting her anger that patients without a voice are left behind on trolleys in corridors.
On the last door there’s a confession, “I didn’t know it was on,” admits one local about the election.
“There’s less anger from people and no talk of change,” Dooley told The Clare Echo of his canvass overall.
So far as the Clare electorate is concerned, does size matter? When it comes to political signage that is! If it’s all about size then Dooley’s chances are looking promising.
