No sod to be left unturned in effort to have Reilly elected

Martin Shannon Sinn Fein has selected Kathryn Reilly from Ballyjamesduff as a second candidate for the forthcoming general election in this constituency. Kathryn, parliamentary assistant in Deputy Arthur Morgan's team in the Louth/Meath constituency, was proposed by Cavan county councillor Pauline McCauley and seconded by Monaghan town councillor Padraigin Ui Mhurchu. Some 150 delegates were at the Errigal House Hotel in Cootehill despite the icy roads last Thursday to hear speeches from Michelle Gildernew, MP, and Pearse Doherty Sinn Fein's new TD for Donegal South West. Monaghan county councillor Matt Carthy and Paddy McDonald, chairs of their respective comhairle ceantair in Monaghan and Cavan, chaired the proceedings. Michelle Gildernew complimented the Cavan/Monaghan constituency and the election team as an example of a strong work ethic coming to fruition. She said the Fianna Fail led government had, “squandered the money so there is no funding for health care and schools. Last week I was canvassing in Donegal and saw for myself this lack of funding and its effect. This is disgraceful... in Donegal – you wouldn't think the tanáiste came from that countyâ€. She paid tribute to Deputy Caoimhghín O Caoláin for his work through the years and added that the constituency needed to build on that and return two Sinn Fein TDs. Deputy O Caoláin gave an overview of how the party has grown since it returned hunger striker Kieran Doherty as TD in 1981, and said it now has 27 councillors in Cavan/Monaghan. It was then put to the convention that the party select two candidates for the general election, which was sanctioned by a unanimous show of hands. Deputy O Caoláin was proposed by Cllr. Brian McKenna and seconded by Cllr. Charlie Boylan, who gave glowing recommendations to the assembly of Deputy O Caoláin's work rate and leadership qualities. Kathryn Reilly was proposed as his running mate by Cllr. Pauline McCauley. “Kathryn comes from a staunchly Republican family – her father Barney is a stalwart of Sinn Fein in Cavan. She has a degree in economics, politics and law and a master's in European economic affairs. She has been a parliamentary assistant to Arthur Morgan for the last 18 months and was an intricate part of the Sinn Fein team who put together its pre-budget submissions. I urge you all to put your shoulder to the wheel and return Kathryn with Caoimhghín. We made history in 1997; two TDs is achievable, let us not waste this chance.†Cllr. Ui Mhurchu seconded the proposal, repeating the confidence the party had in Kathryn and her capabilities and called for “no sod to be left unturned in the effort to get her electedâ€. No other nominations were forthcoming and both nominees were selected by another unanimous show of hands. Pearse Doherty endorsed both candidates: “Kathryn Reilly is responsible for the Sinn Fein economic strategy which has been proven correct time and time again. She is the person I will be working with following my appointment as finance spokesman for this party today. Kathryn has done more at the age of 22 than many people would do in their lifetime. She is an ambassador for all young people out there and the people of Cavan/Monaghan will be proud when they elect her to join Caoimhghín through the gates of Leinster House.†Moriarty seeks FG ticket in the election Michael Moriarty, a 29-year-old chartered accountant from Monaghan Town, has been nominated by the Monaghan Town branch of Fine Gael to go before the party's constituency selection convention (on December 16 in the Hillgrove Hotel). Although a member of FG in Monaghan for some 10 years, Michael has never before sought political office. “I think it's now vital that all Irish people engage with the political process and take charge of the country's future,†he said. “This is a crucial election for Cavan/Monaghan and Ireland as whole. Young people in particular should take this chance to get involved in politics regardless of their political views, whether by taking part in a campaign or seeking to put themselves and their ideas before the electorate.†Michael will focus on job creation as he fears that if unemployment rates persist it will lead to a lost generation of young men and women. He has written in the Irish Times and spoken on radio about the threat of the return of mass emigration from Ireland, and says the type enterprise shown across Cavan and Monaghan can be sustained and built on in order to provide hope for the future of our communities. Michael works with Plan Ireland and divides his time between here and West Africa, where he manages the finances of child-focused development projects for some of the poorest communities in the world. He has spent a year volunteering with GOAL in Sudan, where he used his accounting skills to ensure funds donated to the charity were used as effectively as possible. Before volunteering with GOAL, he was a manager with Ireland's biggest accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Michael went to school in St. Macartan's College. His mother Peggy taught in St. Louis in Monaghan Town for 34 years and his father Maurice taught in St. Louis Secondary School for 33 years. His brother Brian was a news reporter and presenter with Northern Sound. Shane P. wants in East Cavan Fianna Fail councillor Shane P. O'Reilly will be seeking the nomination at his party's selection convention for the general election. Cllr. O'Reilly attained the highest vote for his party in last year's local government elections and hopes to build on that success; he feels he can bring a fresh outlook to the party. The 29-year-old father of three said: “I am well aware of the pressures on family and community in general at present. However, as an elected representative who has had to deal with those affected by the economic decline, I have proved and will continue to prove my commitment to enhancing the lot of my electorate should I receive the nomination. I hope I will gain further support from the delegates at the convention when it is arranged and I am now officially declaring my intention to put my name forward.†‘I will arrest Cowen' A would-be TD says he will attempt a citizen's arrest on Brian Cowen, if he is elected to Dáil Éireann. Jonathan Rainey intends to contest the general election as an independent candidate in Cavan/Monaghan, and says the arrest would be “for economic treason and fraud against the Irish peopleâ€. “The taxpayer has been fed a lie that a bailout is necessary for a national recovery, when in fact we are raiding the National Pension Reserve Fund, pumping almost €35bn into failed banks, and on top of all this there is no jobs strategy to stop our brightest and best from emigrating.†The 35-year-old, who lives near Ballyjamesduff, was a Fine Gael councillor in Fingal until 2004 and tried his hand at business before the economic downturn. His family are members of the first Presbyterian Church settlement in Ireland (1693), a village called Ballycarry in County Antrim, and he thinks it is significant that the only Presbyterian in the present Dáil, Seymour Crawford, is retiring. “Religious equality and representation is vital if we are to celebrate our social and religious diversity and I'd be honoured to assume the mantle he has so effectively championed,†Jonathan said. Outlining his manifesto, he added: “I will be 100% straight and up-front with the electorate. I will back Enda Kenny for taoiseach if elected. I will work with other independents and smaller parties including Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party to maximise collective speaking rights and assert more influence. I will not support cuts in welfare, to education or health or to job creation until every TD, senator and councillor in this country has had their salaries and expenses reduced by at least 50%.†See ArrestCowen.com.