Bailieborough Cootehill MD Candidate: Cllr Carmel Brady (FG)

Originally from Bunnoe, Carmel Brady lives in Tullyvin with her husband Seamus. They have two adult children - a son in Waterford with three children; and daughter who has returned to live at home after a lengthy spell in England. A former legal secretary, Carmel devotes her full time to her work as a councillor.

How do you unwind?

I love football and going to football matches. We have great walks in the Fairy Park in Cootehill and also around the football pitch. Any time I have spare I like to spend with my mother, who is 93 and lives in Bunnoe.

Why should people vote for you?

I'm 10 years now in local politics - I have no interest in anything further up the field. I love helping people fill out forms for funding, get a few pound for the football club or community centres. Even a simple thing like an older person looking for a wet room, they mightn't even know there is a small grant there to help fund it. Things like that.

I live just outside Cootehill and I've worked in the town for 40 years.

My pride and joy is the footpath that now reaches the whole way from town out to the Cootehill Harps soccer club since it was extended at the end of 2022. I went cap in hand to the people who owned the land and they said they were delighted to see someone coming to them, they'll give as much as you want because they could hear the screeches of brakes. The woman said 'I don't want to be going out with a blanket to put it over a child.'

What will you do to address housing supply?

I don't think it is a huge issue in Cootehill. I think there are 106 people on the waiting list, but when you break it down, some are on the list as wanting a house, but they are already in a house and want a transfer to a bigger or smaller house - so the numbers are skewed.

We also have a fantastic line of houses coming on in Cootehill - we have some social and affordable houses. In the next two years we are probably going to have more houses than people who want them in Cootehill.

Has Ireland taken in enough refugees?

Definitely. We are being told when we question our TDs and ministers, we are in Europe and it's part of our obligations to take them - I'd love to see the ratio of people in other European countries compared to us. We are a small country and are generous to a fault and 99% of the people say, okay we have to take refugees in, and they are from war-torn countries, but now there's other issues along with it.

What's your main campaigning issue?

The main roads are kept fairly good, but once you go off the main roads onto local roads, or private roads, they really and truly have deteriorated. I know it's been raining for eight months continuously and pot hole machines have been out but, in two days with the wet the tarmac is back out.

We have an issue with householders, and farmers and landowners of water coming out on the road. I brought up a long time ago about trying to work with the Department of Agriculture to work with a scheme to give a small grant to farmers to shore where the water is coming out and direct it back into the drain. If they work together to come up with a scheme to take the water off the road because, if water is running on the road, the trenches are going to be there.

Should the biodiversity/climate crises be top of the council agenda?

Personally I don't think so. Farmers are saying, God what are you bringing in from Europe? We're just breaking even. Don't bring any more policies and changes.

Yes I have grandchildren and definitely everybody has to do their recycling and be environmental as best they can.

I think when you look up, there's a lot more happening in the skies with aeroplanes than there is with the farmers producing their milk and beef.

Who in the political sphere has influenced you most?

I wasn't politically minded, but there was a man across the road from us, Aidan Boyle who had a shop. He was a councillor for 47 years unbroken.

It didn't matter what religion, creed, colour you were - or your political sphere - if Aidan could fill in a form for you or ring somebody about something, he did it.