General Election 2016 – Candidates
The Wexford Candidates
James Browne
THE SON of TD John Browne, Cllr James Browne will be hoping that he can achieve the same level of popularity in the Wexford constituency as his father did. John Browne emerged successful in no fewer than eight General Elections, topping the polls on several occasions, and one would imagine that a certain degree of the support he enjoyed will now pass directly to his eldest son.
Living at St Aidan’s Villas in the centre of Enniscorthy, James was educated at St Mary’s CBS before going on to study at Waterford IT, UCC and the Kings Inns. He is a practicing Barrister and is the proud holder of several impressive qualifications and he has also worked in the Hotel and Catering industry as well as construction.
Cllr Browne was the youngest member of Enniscorthy Town Council when he was elected in 2009 and he subsequently topped the poll in the 2014 County Council elections with almost 2,000 votes. Among the projects Cllr Browne has been involved with locally are the Enniscorthy Athenaeum and the National 1798 Centre.
If elected, Browne says that his priorities will include fixing the justice system, creating jobs and supporting local business, providing affordable housing, mental health services and maximising Wexford’s “untapped potential”.
Aoife Byrne
AOIFE BYRNE is running for the Fianna Fail party and, being a daughter of former TD Hugh Byrne, comes from a family background steeped in the traditions of the party.
Her manifesto is based on ‘bringing real and sustainable jobs to County Wexford’ and ‘providing access to high quality educational opportunities for all’.
Originally from the Hook area, she comes from a farming background. She was educated in New Ross and studied for a Degree and Masters in Business.
Byrne also ran a family business
with her brother in New Ross for 10 years. She currently works in Wexford town where she has lived for many years.
She has experience working in the area of arts and sport and says that supporting older people in their endeavours to stay in their own homes is one of her priorities.
She has also said that she will fight for improved health services in County Wexford.
Byrne has a real understanding of the challenges and issues facing people throughout the county and says that if elected she will represent Wexford people with passion and integrity.
Malcolm Byrne
A NATIVE of Gorey, Byrne was educated at the local Loreto and CBS schools before going on to graduate in Law from UCD, and now works as Head of Communications with the Higher Education Authority. He previously worked with the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, with internet company, myhome.ie, and as Chief Executive of Community Games nationally.
Byrne is a former Vice-President of the National Youth Council of Ireland, a former Education Officer with the Union of Students in Ireland and was named as one of the 40 under 40 European Leaders for 2014.
He served three terms on Gorey Town Council, was first elected to Wexford County Council in 2009, and became the first Chairman of Wexford County Council in 2014 after the municipal council arrangement replaced the town councils.
His priorities for the General Election includes the creation of sustainable jobs in Co. Wexford, addressing the housing crisis in a planned way, investment in education and youth services, promoting positive mental health and tackling suicide, and dealing with challenges to the environment, including coastal erosion.
He has a record of involvement in the arts, drama, youthwork and education, and a long commitment to a range of community organisations, locally and nationally.
Byrne may be running in his first General Election, however, he has completed 23 marathons, many of them for charity.
Ger Carthy
CURRENT MAYOR of Wexford and paramedic supervisor Ger Carthy is contesting his first General Election and will be hoping to emulate the response he received in the 2014 Local Elections when he topped the poll.
The 38-year-old father-of-three is a founding member of Wexford Marine Watch and a trained paramedic. He is heavily involved with the GAA and has held numerous roles both at club and County Board level.
He is also the Chairperson of KRT Ltd, a company which provides and supports community employment placements in and around South Wexford.
From Our Lady’s Island, he was educated in Broadway National School and the Christian Brothers in Wexford town. He went on to qualify as a carpenter after leaving school before joining the National Ambulance Service in 2003, obtaining a diploma of Emergency and Medical Technology from UCD.
Much was written in 2014 of the current councillor’s links to politics as his father, the late Leo Carty served as an Independent county councillor for almost half a century. Carthy polled over 12% of first preferences in the Wexford district in 2014 and was elected Mayor in June of last year.
On that occasion, he outlined his priorities which included putting employment at the top of his agenda but also with addressing the urban-rural divide.
Michael D’Arcy
FEBRUARY 26 is a doubly important date for Michael D’Arcy – he is celebrating his 46th birthday and seeking to be elected to Dáil Éireann on the same day!
A native of Gorey, D’Arcy is son of Michael D’Arcy, who served as a public representative in Wexford County Council and Dáil Éireann and served as a Minister of State.
D’Arcy was co-opted to Wexford County Council in 2003, was elected to that body in 2004, and served as Chairman of Wexford Vocational Education Committee, 2004-2007.
He was a member of Dáil Éireann, 2007-2011, but even though he lost his seat in the 2011 election, and it is debatable as to whether this was because of the strength of his party colleague, Dr Liam Twomey, or the extraordinary performance of Independent Mick Wallace, he increased his first preference vote and became a member of Seanad Éireann where he was Fine Gael spokesman for Finance.
D’Arcy is a former member of the Public Accounts Committee and a member of the Banking Inquiry.
Truly loyal to Fine Gael, D’Arcy presents himself before the electorate with a huge amount of experience and is well capable of performing well as his record on the Banking Inquiry record shows.
He is consistent with his party’s manifesto and supports the long term economic plan to keep the recovery going – more jobs, better jobs, making work pay, and investigating in public services.
John Dwyer
JOHN DWYER is a fully independent candidate in this year’s General Election.
He is also the only New Ross based candidate standing. A veteran politician, he is a former member of both Wexford County Council and New Ross Town Council and only narrowly missed out on securing a seat on the County Council in the last local elections.
A former member of Sinn Fein and Eirigi, his politics are left-wing and he has decided to run this time around to highlight issues that he believes are not being given priority by any of the established parties or politicians.
He believes ‘austerity’ to be an entirely man-made phenomenon which was used by the outgoing Government to target only one section of the community and also believes the country’s wealth is being drained away. He is basing his campaign on ‘getting a better deal for all people’.
Dwyer has said the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour coalition only succeeded in continuing the bad administration of the previous Fianna Fail-Green Party Government and in doing so protected the rich and placed more hardship on the working class.
Dwyer is married and is a father of both adult and school-going children.
Caroline Foxe
CAROLINE FOXE is an independent candidate and has served as postmistress in Foulksmills Post Office for the last seven years, however, she has worked in the post office for twice that length.
Foxe has lived in Clongeen parish all her life and has served on numerous local committees.
She decided to stand as a post office and community candidate to work on all community issues in Wexford. She believes there is a need for greater Government support to restore vibrant communities so that people can access the essential services they require.
“We are socially dependent on one another and we need social contact in our lives,” she believes.
“We need to take responsibility for our own lives and our own communities.”
She feels that when a post office closes it is followed by other local business closures and the heart is torn out of the community.
Foxe also believes that the Post Office Network needs to be recognised as a National Asset by making branches the providers of choice for all Government services including the likes of motor tax, hospital charges, and local authority payments.
She is married and has one daughter.
Julie Hogan
THE 2016 General Election will be Julie Hogan’s first foray into politics and she is hoping to capture a seat for Fine Gael.
Hogan has lived and worked in Wexford town for the past 25 years. She grew up in Saltmills where she attended Poulfur National School and Ramsgrange Secondary School. She then moved to Wexford to develop a career in retail and eventually opened her own shops in Wexford and New Ross.
From there, she moved into the service management and now works with Eishtec, one of the county’s newest employers, where she is a team manager.
She has been active in many Theatre in Education projects over the years and also worked with St. Claire’s Day Care Centre in Crumlin Hospital, as well as being involved with many mental health charities.
Hogan is the daughter of well-known musician Pat Hogan and Terrie Hogan (nee Carpendale). The family has always been known for its strong talent in performing arts and Hogan herself was a member of the band Remedy from 1990-2000 who, for many years, performed at the opening of the Opera Festival.
Hogan believes that Fine Gael is the only party that can continue the ongoing recovery and says that she wants to be a strong, hard-working voice for the people in Wexford.
Brendan Howlin
WEXFORD TOWN TD and current Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin will be hoping that any potential backlash against the Labour Party does not hit on his own doorstep as he bids to begin his 29th year in Dáil Eireann.
His political roots go back further than that, however.
He was elected to Wexford Corporation in 1981. He became a member of the Seanad in 1983 and a Co. Councillor in 1985. He was first elected to the Dáil in 1987 and has held his seat in every election since.
A long-standing member of Labour, he has twice made a bid for leadership of the party but was unsuccessful on both occasions. Over the course of his 29 years, he has held the Environment and Health portfolios.
A former teacher, Howlin has enjoyed a good run of fortune for his local constituency over the past number of months.
Funding announcements for projects such as Johnstown Castle and the Athenaeum were considered big tourism projects, while Wexford General Hospital also benefitted from his input at government level.
Most recently, he was present for the turning of the sods of the New Ross and Enniscorthy bypasses, the announcement of a new courthouse and garda station and the turning of the sod of the new Loreto Secondary School.
With Minister Noonan, he is seen as playing a key role in resuscitating the Irish economy since 2011.
Paul Kehoe
A NATIVE of Bree, Paul Kehoe lives in Enniscorthy with his wife Brigid and their three children Sinead, Eoin and Emma. He rose through the ranks of Fine Gael, serving as District Chairman and County Youth Officer along the way.
Kehoe was first elected to the Dáil in 2002 and hasserved as a TD for county Wexford ever since. He was appointed Fine Gael Chief Whip in October 2004, a position he held until appointed Government Chief Whip in 2011. While in the role, Kehoe oversaw an increase in Dáil sitting days and the introduction of Friday sittings and Topical Issue Debates.
Kehoe combined his Chief Whip role with the roles of Minister of State at the Department of An Taoiseach and Defence and as a result has visited Irish troops all over the world including in the Lebanon and Golan Heights
Despite being very much in the national frame, Kehoe says he aims to keep a firm emphasis on constituency work too, holding weekly clinics at his offices in Enniscorthy and New Ross.
In recent years he has played a major role in the JFK50 celebrations in New Ross, as well as securing funding for the Enniscorthy and New Ross by-passes.
If elected he aims to bring the unemployment rate in Wexford to within 1% of the national average, oversee the conclusion of the flood relief and by-passes and invest in services locally and nationally.
Leonard Kelly
LEONARD KELLY is the Social Democrat candidate for Wexford who is also contesting his first General Election, having polled unsuccessfully in the 2014 Local Elections.
A father-of-four, Leonard has been involved in his local community for a number of years. He is a founding member and Chairperson of mental health awareness and fundraising group, the Friends of It’s Good to Talk, a board member of Wexford Educate Together Primary School and Wexford County Childcare Committee.
Kelly says that his time spent working with such community organisations has hardened his conviction and belief in the importance of investment in local communities, and crystallised his understanding of the issues facing them and many sectors of society.
Kelly achieved an honours degree in Quality Management and a Primary degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy. For the last 15 years, he has worked in a variety of project and quality management roles in the Medical Devices, Pharmaceuticals and Manufacturing Sectors. As a result of this, he says he will adhere to ethical, evidence-based decision making.
Kelly thinks that at the moment people are living in fear rather than being hopeful and he wants to see a republic where the government serves the people and power is held to account.
He has recently spoken out on issues including: political corruption and repealing the Eighth Amendment.
David Lloyd
WEXFORD’S Davitt Road man David Lloyd is contesting his first General Election having been unsuccessful in the 2014 Local Elections where he garnered 0.71% of first preference votes.
An electrician by trade, he is also involved in the anti-water charge protests as well as other protest groups in his area.
He is running for Direct Democracy Ireland, a party which advocates for a new form of political governance that would give the public the power to determine policies that a government implements. This would be done through a petition process which, on reaching a certain quota, would result in the calling of a referendum on said issue.
Lloyd says that as a new candidate, he is not tainted by corruption and he believes that the country needs a government that is accountable to the people.
His main priorities, if elected, would be jobs and housing, saying that the South East had been ignored by governments in many areas.
If elected, he said one of his main focuses would be on stopping the payment of Ireland’s debt and burning the bondholders, as well as having a referendum on the political system in the form of a citizens’ initiative.
Lloyd believes that the people have become disenfranchised with the current government and wants to hand the power back to the people.
Emmet Moloney
AT 29, Emmet Moloney is the youngest candidate in Wexford’s General Election race, and it is the Selskar native’s first time stepping into the political realm.
Having worked in the retail sector across the country for a number of years he recently returned to Wexford where he took up a role as a manager in the contact centre, Eishtec.
Moloney has listed tackling crime and restoring the powers of local government as some of his main campaign priorities. In general, he believes that more needs to be invested into frontline services and he has spoken out about the lack of mental health services in Wexford.
He said recently: “One of the gravest outcomes of Ireland’s financial collapse has been the rise in suicide and mental health issues. When will this government wake up and realise that this is a very real and serious issue and one that needs immediate action?”
Moloney has also spoken out about the problems facing people in small to medium enterprises and believes that more should be done to give them security along with those people who, despite working, are still struggling to make ends meet due to unfair taxes and charges.
If elected, Moloney says that his first priority would be to fight for a workable and efficient mental health service for Co. Wexford.
Johnny Mythen
A FIRST time General Election candidate, Sinn Féin’s Johnny Mythen will be no stranger to people in his native Enniscorthy. First elected as a local councillor back in 2009, he has since gone on to carve out a sterling reputation among people in the district.
Cllr Mythen was the last Chairperson of Enniscorthy Town Council before being elected to Wexford County Council in May 2014.
Among the projects which he has taken an interest in throughout his political life are Enniscorthy’s 1798 Rebellion Centre, where he currently serves as a Director. He is also a member of the County Wexford 1916 Centenary Commemorative Committee, further outlining his interest in local and national history.
In his working life, Mythen spent 35 years working for the ESB where he was also a member of the UNITE trade union national negotiating team. He has a firm interest in sport and played football for Starlights GAA Club, soccer with Enniscorthy Town and rugby with Enniscorthy RFC. As well as this he coached GAA, football and rugby at both underage and senior level.
If elected, Mythen has vowed to help working Wexford families by overseeing an abolition of property tax and water charges and drastically reducing those eligible to pay USC, as well as helping the county to achieve its potential and increase employment, curbing the emigration of young people from the county.
Deirdre Wadding
FIRST TIME General Election candidate Deirdre Wadding will be hoping to build on the work that saw her elected to Wexford Co. Council for the first time in 2014.
She took the last seat on that occasion having polled 3.78% of first preference votes.
Representing the People before Profit Alliance, she is very active within that network and has been to the forefront of local and national anti-austerity campaigns including those against property tax and water charges.
A qualified primary teacher and professional story-teller, the councillor is also the first openly Pagan councillor in the country.
Since becoming a member of the council, she has been very outspoken on issues surrounding housing, decrying the lack of social and affordable housing and speaking strongly against the homelessness crisis. She believes that vacant properties, including NAMA buildings, should be opened up to help ease the housing crisis.
Wadding has also spoken in support of Mick Wallace and Clare Daly in their efforts to uncover the actions of the US Military in Shannon Airport.
She says that her main priority for her constituency is a 24/7 mental health service, pointing out that Wexford has double the national average suicide rate.
She pledges to be a strong voice for the people and to stand for equality, and against austerity and corruption.
Mick Wallace
INDEPENDENT TD Mick Wallace will be hoping for lightning to strike twice this year after he topped the poll and was elected on the first count in the 2011 General Election.
The outspoken TD, on that occasion, had declared his intention to run just three weeks before the election. He proceeded to poll 17% of the first preference votes.
Born in Wellington Bridge, Wallace was best known before political life as a builder and property developer, and also for his involvement with Wexford Youths Soccer Club.
Since becoming a TD, controversy has never been too far away. In 2012, he made headlines over his failure to pay VAT and most recently a judgement for €2m has been made against him by a private equity firm on behalf of Ulster Bank.
Financial problems aside, Wallace has been praised for speaking out on a number of issues including the presence of American military aircraft at Shannon Airport, an issue which landed him in court and saw him arrested on foot of a bench warrant before Christmas.
He has also been very vocal on austerity issues, the operation and regulation of NAMA and has sought to highlight alleged Garda malpractices, the latter of which contributed to the removal of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and Deputy Alan Shatter from his role as Justice Minister.
Ann Walsh
DESCRIBING HERSELF as “a proud Wexford woman”, Ann Walsh (Kiely) is running for the Green Party and has the support of the Party Leader, Eamon Ryan, and former Minister and TD, Trevor Sargent, in her first General Election attempt.
A native of New Ross, she is married to a Duncannon-man and has been living in Castletown, for the past 18 years.
She works as a psychologist and psychotherapist with groups and individuals and also has considerable experience in the area of disability.
When she is a first time candidate she has been politically active for several years due to her experiences, both personally and professionally, in the areas of mental health and disability.
Walsh believes that any society should be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable and is passionate about ensuring services to those with disabilities, with mental health issues, and housing needs, to be prioritised and protected moving forward.
Walsh is running for the Green Party because she believes it truly understands the importance of the triple bottom line, the environment, economy and society. For Walsh the Green Party has vision and pragmatism and have policies that are well thought out and inclusive.
She believes the people of Wexford deserve as much choice as possible at the ballot box and the opportunity to vote for a party with heart as well as head.