Kelleher Added To Labour Ticket
Issued : Monday 20 December, 2010
Areas : Dublin North
The selection of Councillor Tom Kelleher to contest the General Election on behalf of the Labour Party in the Dublin North constituency has been given a broad welcome. Kelleher has been added to the Labour ticket to run with colleague, Senator Brendan Ryan.
Tom Kelleher is a very well known public representative, having represented his community since 1991 as a councillor, initially on Dublin City Council, and more recently on the local County Council. He also served as County Mayor in 1996. To date his successes include playing a role in the Labour Group changing the nature of Planning and Development in the region since 2003. Transparency and Public Involvement is now the accepted way of working. Early childhood education provided by the State is now Labour Party policy and he has promoted and lobbied for this at Conference for twenty years. He is currently principal of Rolestown National School.
He told the County Leader about his hopes and aspirations for the North County, particularly in regard to the Metro North project, “I’m absolutely committed to the Metro project and have worked so hard on this project with the County Council. The Metro has huge advantages in terms of transport, creating jobs and economically to the North County. There are thousands of reasons I’m behind this project and it will not only provide the North County with a great transport system but create many jobs too.”
He went on to say, “Labour have become a strong party and are proud of the fundamental differences they have made to how the Council works. The needs of residents and businesses are very important and also the people who create jobs in the area. I feel very responsible for the young people as well as everybody else and Labour’s policy is to deliver the best of life for the people we serve.” As a teacher, it came as no surprise that education was high on the agenda for him. “Education is a primary focus means for young people and I believe it should be free. Finance should not stop young people having access to third level education. Ireland is an island and we need to educate our people from a young age, in order to be able to compete for huge resources. Every child should have the best possible education,” he concluded.
Cllr. Ciaran Byrne has welcomed Kelleher’s selection. He told the County Leader, “There was a unanimous decision by members of Labour’s Dublin North constituency organisation to add a second candidate, following the selection of Senator Brendan Ryan at the convention in the Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan last week. The party’s organisation committee agreed to add councillor Tom Kelleher, who polled well in the vote on the previous Sunday. So the outcome has reflected the democratic wishes of the party members.” Byrne had argued strongly for the selection of a second Labour candidate during the debate, citing missed opportunities in the past when the party had fielded only a single candidate. “While everyone knows that a week is a long time in politics, the opinion polls consistently support the view that Labour has a very real chance of taking two seats in Dail Eireann in the Spring. I fully expect Fianna Fail to lose its two seats in the constituency, as both TDs have fully supported Brian Cowen’s disastrous economic policies during his terms as Minister of Finance and Taoiseach,” concluded Byrne.
Cllr 
