Interview: Patrick Curtin, People Before Profit
Patrick Curtin is the former President of SETU Students' Union and a General Election candidate for People Before Profit-Solidarity running in Waterford.
The first-ever President of SETU Students Union for the Waterford Campus, Patrick Curtin is running in the General Election as a candidate for People Before Profit in the hopes of becoming the party's first ever Déise TD.
"Waterford is meant to be one of the five major cities across the Republic of Ireland and it has just been put to the side," said Patrick.
"We have no regional airport - that's been closed since 2016. We have no investment in the city. Yes, we have the Waterford Northeast development going ahead, but they're not putting any money into the current city with this[...] No investment put into the university. We have no investment going into Waterford University Hospital."
Curtin believes that Waterford is stuck at the back of the line for the scraps of government money left over after our bulbous capital takes its share, "everything at the moment has been centralised in Dublin, then whatever is left over after Dublin's spare change has been sent down to Cork."
"It has been like that for years upon years," he contends, "and as long as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in, that's the way it's going to be."
Fresh from the world of student politics, Curtin presents a different way of thinking, seeking to appeal to the younger generations of voters.
"I know what they're looking for, I know their needs, I know their demands and I also listen to people as well. I don't make false promises, I believe people are powerful, and that's what our party is about - creating campaigns and getting people out onto the streets."
"That's the only thing that is going to get things done these days."
Representing People Before Profit, Curtin promises to "make sure Waterford is put back on the map again as one of the five major cities" in the country if elected, and wants to use his recent experience at SETU to make the case for the institution to get full university status.
