Bailieborough-Cootehill MD Candidate: Niall Smith

Niall Smith is born and reared in Knockbride and was reared in a family of eight children and they were steeped in Fianna Fáil. His father was a party activist and granduncle was Paddy Smith TD. While this may be Niall’s first time to run in an election, he has regularly canvassed for other candidates including his cousin Niamh Smyth TD. Married to Julie, Niall works full time as an electrician.

How do you unwind?

My great pasttime is the GAA and I am an active umpire with Knockbride GFC. I go to all my local club games, all the Cavan games, and this year I have been attending all of the Cavan hurling games. I also read a lot of newspapers, and do the crosswords and sudukos.

Why should people vote for you?

I come from a political houshold as my father, Sean, was a big Fianna Fáil activist. People should vote for me as I am a new voice for the community and have a strong presence in the area. I am well known and not afraid to speak up for those in need and deserving of support and help. I won’t be a ‘yes’ man, I will help the people out with whatever problems they have.

What will you do to address the housing supply?

There are positive signs on housing with Minister Darragh O’Brien reporting a lot of new builds started this year. It will just take a while to get them built - they are working on it at the minute. It will take time but Minister Darragh O’Brien should be given the chance to sort it out.

It’s hard to get labour as so many have gone to Australia and we have to train new people in.

And you have to realise that the cost of materials and labour have increased steadily, so prices are very high worldwide because we are living in this unstable political world.

Has Ireland taken in enough refugees?

Migration is a big problem in our communities. The government should be looking at the infrastructure of the local area if they are going to put migrants in, and ensure they have amenities.

We are not against immigration, but we need it to be sustainable, so when people come into the community, they are looked after and they have a place to stay. If you look at Dublin’s Mount Street and the Canal with all the tents, it doesn’t show a great picture for Ireland. If we are taking in people, we really need to have the structures set out for them and places to go.

They need to alert the communities and not be bringing them in at night - that’s what’s prompting these big demonstrations. If say you are bringing 30 into Bailieborough, they need to have the infrastructure there such as health, schooling etc.

We have to look after our own country too.

What are your main campaigning issues?

The main issue has been roads. I know the price of material for roads and labour have gone up. I saw one small part of a road outside Bailieborough that was done up and it’s supposed to have cost over a million.

Then our weather for the last while has been very bad. From last July, it never stopped raining. When you get severe storms, roads are going to get damaged. It will take a while to fix them, but I’m going to make sure that all roads are done.

Also the lack of personnel and service in the Disability and Assessment Departments are causing extreme anxiety, worry and frustration for so many parents and their children. That’s a big thing on the doors - speech therapists, after school help and respite to help the families.

Should the biodiversity/climate crises be at the very top of the council’s agenda?

The climate crisis will be dealt with at global and EU level. We will play a small part because our emissions are very low at the minute but we will gradually get there. I’m behind supporting our biodiversity with more green areas, but it is a slow process, it will not happen over night. It is important, but local issues are more important.

Who in the political sphere, has influenced you the most?

When I was a gasún, my father would have brought me into Bailieborough one Saturday night, when my late great granduncle Paddy Smith TD was having a political rally. He’d be up on a trailer speaking, and the massive crowds that was there - it always stuck on my mind. From then on we were always politically minded, and maybe I’m following in his footsteps - who knows?