I believe Sligo must reach its potential as a key regional growth centre in the country, supporting local business to grow and expand and to attract high quality jobs for a sustainable future – a place where families can grow up, remain in and rear their own families.

I believe passionately in improving the quality of life for people in Sligo and to protect and enhance our natural amenities, landscape and coastline. Development and economic advancement must be matched by making improvements across the whole community for all who live here. Sligo must remain a wonderful place to bring up families. I believe in the ideals of the Just Society in which all our people are looked after.

I am a long-standing environmental activist and have emphasised advanced environmental measures throughout my term on Sligo County Council.  I support significant and sustained policy and structural supports to underpin intense development of a combination of renewable energy generation types at a national level, in order to achieve an even higher target than the current government target of 70% percent.

I will continue to work to protect our environment in Sligo/Strandhill for this and future generations.  I remain committed to advocating at every opportunity for a more environmentally friendly town in terms of transport, waste management, plastic reduction and energy consumption.   I will continue to be an active member of the Strandhill Biodiversity Action Group, Clean Coasts, and Sick of Plastics groups.

Plastic Free Business in Sligo: I will support every business in accessing the existing available funding to help their businesses transition to being plastics free.  I support the introduction of a Deposit and Return Scheme for plastic bottles, proposed in the Waste Reduction Bill, which has been very successful in other EU countries.   I continue to press our Minister for Climate Action and the Environment, and the Government to do more for climate change through our laws and to work quickly towards meeting our climate change targets.

I will continue to campaign for a high standard of public services for the people of Sligo – e.g. establishing a permanent Catheterisation Laboratory (CATH Lab) for Sligo University Hospital, retaining rural post offices, establishing primary care centres where needed.

I believe there is huge potential to grow Sligo as a haven for tourism, along the Wild Atlantic Way and I have worked on a number of campaigns to brand, sell and market Sligo, both as as an attractive place to set up a business and to attract tourism. I will continue to support and promote our success stories – big and small. I am currently working on creating the Coolera cultural trail.

I have strongly advocated for the funding and development of the new roads infrastructure now commencing around Sligo town and the surrounding areas. Good infrastructure will attract business and high quality jobs to Sligo.

I have worked tirelessly for projects such as the N4 upgrade, Western Distributor Road, Stephen St Plaza, the redevelopment of O’Connell St, the upgrade of Hughes Bridge, have either begun or funding secured for in my time on the Council.

As a human rights lawyer, I will continues to advocate on behalf of people who suffer from mental health difficulties, and lobbies the government to continue to improve the services and supports available in the North West and to campaign to destigmatise mental illness.

Diversity: I actively promote diversity and understanding within our communities and firmly believe in the benefits of an inclusive, diverse and representative society, whether it LGBT+ community, people with disabilities, asylum seekers, and minorities.

I was appointed by An Taoiseach to sit on Fine Gael’s Northern Ireland Engagement Forum which reaches out to all political parties in the North to grow and encourage political relationships. This is critical in the lead up to BREXIT and in a post-Brexit scenario where ongoing peace and economic cooperation is vital to our interests north and south of the border. I will continue to advocate for additional government supports for border counties in vulnerable sectors, such as farming, affected by Brexit.