Will Waterford vote Independent?
Matt Shanahan and his team canvassing in Dunmore East.
We joined Deputy Matt Shanahan's team on the campaign trail as this short general election run-in nears its close and we draw nearer to forming our new government.
On Friday evening last, whilst Deputy Shanahan was canvassing in the west of the county, the Waterford News & Star joined his canvassing team who were busy spreading the word in Tramore.
Shanahan’s team, which included local Independent councillors Joe Conway and Blaise Hannigan, took to the doorsteps to gauge the feeling of voters and appeal for an Independent vote this coming Friday.
There were few who were willing to confront the knocks on what was a cold night in Tramore. The response was positive, however, from those that did answer.
A significant amount of residents who obliged the knocks said they would support Shanahan on account of his endorsement from Conway and Hannigan, two popular figures in the Tramore area.
There was, however, also an aura of confusion amongst a handful of residents, with some saying, “Who’s running from around here?" and “I haven’t a clue who I’ll vote for.”
Another said that only two of the other candidates came to their door in the past number of weeks: “Mary Butler and one of the Sinn Fein candidates”.
“We need an Independent,” Shanahan’s canvassers said to residents on the night and generally locals showed enthusiasm to voting so, with one resident particularly displeased by one of the opposition party TDs.
Waterford Airport was mentioned a number of times and Palestine was also raised on the night.
Speaking to the News & Star during the canvass, Cllr Blaise Hannigan said that he had covered approximately 99.2% of the Tramore area to endorse Shanahan.
He added that cost of living was the dominant issue during his canvassing efforts over the last number of weeks.
“Anyone who came out was totally positive, and I mean that sincerely,” he said. “I think I got maybe eight Sinn Féin houses, which is totally ok, and so I asked for number two. I got a lot of houses who said they were disillusioned with politics, especially with the main parties.”
Cllr Conway said: “People may say the Independents can’t achieve anything, but they can by virtue of the fact that they can point out again and again how frequently the government has let down Waterford and the south east.”
During the campaign trail, Deputy Shanahan has received support from a majority of the eight Independent councillors on Waterford Council. Former Fine Gael councillor Declan Doocey has also supported him in the west of the county.
The following afternoon, we joined Deputy Shanahan and his team for a canvas in Dunmore East.
Once again, few came to the doors, resulting from a mixture of very poor weather, homes being empty, and perhaps a jaded attitude towards canvassers as the election campaign draws to a close.
The tattered and wilting leaflets of other candidates, who had already passed through the area, sat at the front doors and hanging from the letter boxes of a number of homes, which were not lived in or which had been vacated for the winter months.
Shanahan and his team added their own literature to houses which appeared occupied, dropping leaflets with a written note on each through letter boxes.
Those who did answer were met with a similar opening message from Deputy Shanahan each time:
“I’m the man who started the Hand on Heart campaign in Waterford for cardiac care. I’m also the man who kept the rescue helicopter in Waterford when government tried to bring it to Cork.”
Residents who appeared less interested in engaging, were asked by Shanahan or his team to “Scan the QR code on the leaflet over a cup of coffee to see the parliamentary work that has been done.“
The code brings up a list of Shanahan’s social media accounts, his website and his Oireachtas profile.
Just as during the previous night in Tramore, most responses were neutral or positive.
The uncertainty of voting Independent was mentioned by one resident, who said: “We’ve always heard that Independents have a hard time because they’re not one group.”
Shanahan replied: “That’s true but you don’t need Independents in one group because it would be quite fragmented. What you need is a solid group of Independents, maybe six, seven or eight, who are aligned on principal policy, just like a party.”
Another spoke out on the lack of funding for South East Technological University, whilst others mentioned the difficulty for young adults to acquire housing.
“I think the younger people who need housing are a missed generation,” one individual said.
Shanahan said at one doorstep: “Are you aware of the work I’ve been doing?” to which the reply was: “I’m aware of a lot of the things that have not been done.”
One voter, who wasn’t initially aware of Shanahan’s work, said plainly: “Yes, I’ll vote for you,” when Shanahan mentioned his commitment to cardiac services.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, one resident said they would be voting, but not for Shanahan, feeling aggrieved by the lack of delivery on 24/7 cardiac care. They said that Shanahan promised to deliver the project in 2020 but failed.
Shanahan replied: “I never promised to deliver it, I promised to fight for it. You’ll never find a sentence or an audio bite where I said I’d promise to deliver it. That was put out by opposition parties.”
