Kilkenny election candidate sets out 'Cleere' direction

Trade Union official and Labour Party local election candidate, Andrea Cleere says her core beliefs are steeped in socialism, natural justice, trade unionism and hard work as she prepares to fight for a seat in the Kilkenny City LEA.

Ms Cleere, who contested the 2019 local election, will join party colleague and recently retired principal of Gaelscoil Osraí, Sean O hArgain on the ballot paper for the city area when the public head to polling stations on Friday, June 7.

The Labour hopeful has spent over two decades working as a trade official with SIPTU and is a mother of three. But, despite having a busy home and work life, the local woman never doubted she would run for election once again despite growing public demands.

"I didn’t ever question not running, obviously the landscape is completely different in terms of the abuse you see public representatives get and the general mood post-Covid.

"The current cost of living crisis is definitely a low pay crisis, there’s an awful lot of demand on people and a lot of tokenism that’s being given out by the government like grants and while that helps with rising costs and bills coming in the door, it’s very hard to swallow electricity providers are receiving gross dividends, it’s terribly unfair as it only supports that divide," Cleere added.

Locally, additional pedestrian crossings, ending long-term parking in private residential estates and the maintenance of cycle lanes to provide safer conditions on the roads are amongst the hot topics on the doorsteps according to Ms Cleere, with additional bus stops reducing walking times for users also an imperative for Cleere if elected.

"We need more groups on the council. You should be able to look and see and identify someone who can identify with you," Cleere stated, but the Labour candidate hopes the electorate will give her an opportunity due to her ability and not her gender on June 7.