Being born out of the Ducks, Weavers and Padraic’s I started my campaign in the Castleisland District an area I
have fond memories of the people I met there and love.
Diamonds Forever like friends and the jewellers on the Main St where I bought Lorraine’s engagement ring nearly 20 years ago and an accepted proposal on Christmas Eve in the kitchen of Charlie Horan’s Rambling House always bring a smile to my face.
A new candidate I started somewhere I felt safe where I made great friends that I do not see often enough and while doing the rounds of the shops with a submission on rates for SME’s I met many old friends.
John Bradley still perched up, Mike working hard in the Central Garage,Terence O Connor on walkabout and a number of the Brodericks who loved having the craic and playing Pitch and Putt in Castleisland on a beautiful course where I won the Munster Strokeplay way back in 86.
Out to Cordal to Davy Paul hopping the usual ball and on to Dan & Noreen of the lovely family Jones outside my area but well worth a call for a party or a chat.My Mum Joan related to those in Hughes Bar,Charlie Farrelly who landed in Castleisland not long after I and Cordal GAA where I enjoyed playing which was badly wanting having returned from London requiring peace and good hearts at the tender age of 24.
Cordal versus Scart one of my first games and passion along with conflict something I loved back then and looking back on scenes that would not go amiss in Braveheart remind me of my own current battle against a lack of morals in the party politics of FF, FG and Labour as I stand in this time .
Greed lobbying and bypassing Castleisland V Compassion Care and a great community were my train of thought as I traveled up to Scart and what my Grandparents Corny Ducks and Joan “The Weaver” O Sullivan would think of the world today as they lay to rest behind the Church.
I had been up here on the bar of the high nelly my grandfather used for his own council duties sitting above the shovel and slasher tied to the transport of the time.Despite technology in addition to much higher taxes,charges and VAT since the surface was not smooth and I though of better days along with ways as by no coincidence I met Mike Scart who I went to school with in the Sem when Fitzgerald was rarely used and Jeremiah Dunlea who I battled with on the pitch and over the counter would still be a tough opponent.
The Fleadh Cheoil great days and the music was all around as the fantastic view and sunshine brought me to where my parents got married and venue of my summer holidays in Gortchanafa reminded me of Jimeen,his donkey with us in the cart,the Brown Flesk and a vibrant daily creamery with only Gerard Din Dave who is still standing as Currow and the Post Office are both under threat as careless policy and caring even less about people rural Ireland and Kerry are left devastated.
Meeting Norita and Callaghan a nickname that has stuck to Mike Nelligan for many moons two very current hardships and injustice were the topics as St.Francis will need to smile down on me preparing to battle for special needs the reasons I started campaigning nationwide a number of years back when the stroke victims I work with were deprived of quality of life services like daily speech therapy and physio when basics lead to independence and lack of basic services lead to social exclusion.
Water another basic Human Right the discussion around the corner as I reminded one of the elder Nelligans that he would be back drawing water from Nora’s well that I was always delighted to carry nature’s prize easily to my grandparents house down the hill with the younger Nelligans in tow and the ball waiting when the early morning duties collecting eggs and free economy were also alive and well.
Castleisland has been forgotten and bypassed by the Celtic Tiger has left so many empty houses and is a reminder of the nightmare that is reality Ireland.Factories,shops and pubs closed.Meeting Bart Hickey next to the snug which is now a quick one to one off-licence long ago it was a real local where Brendan Hickey,Richard Horan and I went every Monday night and days to have the craic ,watch the football and must be missed by Edmund Hartnett,Tom Horan and the Greaney’s who at the time looked down on us as we were not members of the club as long as they were but the banter was unreal back then we could afford to socialize.
Shops closed,rates and crippled by taxes when forward planning for basic parking in the town would have helped their cause when greed and foreign companies like BAM and Tesco pass by age-old Market real value concepts and towns.Lighting,sewage and lack of care again issues out the Cordal Road when false promises and generations have been left down by the whipped party and lack of consciousness by the powers that be who care less about people than paper that only covers cracks.
North East Kerry Development who epitomise the community spirit that will be required to mind our own corner,taxes and tender’s here in Kerry and a meeting in the River Island showed signs that people are uniting against a cruel system and drain of our natural resources and assets by forced emigration and private vested interests controling public hearts and the greater good as a set-up 8;7 will by imbalance vote in the newly formed LCDC’s and central control.
Castleisland and District have been part of my journey and learning forever and together we will need to renew energy and community spirit along with ideas in a world gone mad.Compassion and care and a return to a simple life, can heal the corporate damage of our spirit and the Flight of the Earls playing in London and the Padraig O Keeffe festival come to mind. John Reidy and his love along with feeling for the valley has not diminished as music,photos and sharing by media the town he loves so well in the MaineValley Post. http://www.mainevalleypost.com/
Festivals, easily accessed markets of local produce and goods,sustainable growth programmes,social entrepreneurship and ideas from those who love their townland welcome in a time when we need to think outside the box and mind our own corner of The Kingdom and Universe.
A love of people and good nature are the reasons I am on this election campaign,justice and a fair system promised even in the infamous prison of Alcatraz where water and shelter were rules and rights strengthen my resolve to bring illness to wellness using “we” instead of “I” bringing inclusion and prosperity of body mind and spirit to a town and area that I personally owe for being a sturdy shelter and friend to me in a time having returned from the noise and haste of London.
I went placidly daily along the River Bank learning to slow down and a great reminder nearly 20 years ago that goodness at heart which then thrived in the town and surrounding area still remains as I have travelled through time and returned to the places and people that have made a man of me.Replacing volatile markets and corruption and a return to morals and values that in my Grandparent’s time were Community spirit which I now see as the required new tribe travelling back to a simple life and better days
