Cavan-Belturbet MD Candidates: Cllr John Paul Feeley (FF)

Co-opted to Cavan County Council in 2007 in place of his father, the late Eddie Feeley, who served his area and beyond as a local representative for 22 years. Married to Niamh, and father to son Eamon, he is a practising solicitor from Stranamorth, Blacklion, who topped the poll in 2019 with 15.02% of the overall vote going his way.

How do you unwind?

Between council work, work, and a little boy, there's not a whole lot of time for sitting around. I like to walk, to read, and during Covid I discovered that gardening can be very useful and enjoyable. I don't get to as many football matches as I used to.

Why should people vote for you?

I think when people vote for me they can be certain I will put in the effort, that I will give it the time, and that I'll do the best job I can for them.

What will you do to address housing supply?

Housing policy is primarily set at national level, and we work within that framework. As a councillor during the last County Development Plan I ensured we maximised, and made it as flexible as possible for people to build in rural parts of the county which I think is important in terms of sustainability.

We also zoned as much land in the county as we could for residential use, despite the best efforts of the regulator to stifle that. We have a good programme of social housing going on in the county, and I sought additional funding for that at national level, and I've tried to promote the various schemes there at the moment, Croí Cónaithe especially, but also the Help to Buy scheme and others there to help people provide themselves with their own home. I think that's an area we need to focus on more.

Has Ireland taken in enough refugees?

The issue of migrants of various guises coming into the country has been conflated with those seeking asylum. Most coming here in recent years are those from other European countries, and they are an essential element of our economy. There are unique circumstances relating to Ukraine, but aside from that, last year 13,000 people presented for asylum. It’s a country of six something million. It is putting a strain on the system certainly, but I think the issue has become exaggerated at national level, and government needs to ensure we process applications quickly and efficiently, which is something that hasn't been happening.

As a public representative, despite the fact we have many excellent public servants across the board, the system doesn't deal with things as promptly as it should, and I think that is causing us a problem.

What is your main campaigning issues?

I don't think as a councillor you can have one single issue. You're there to serve the widest possible needs of your community, and you get to try to work on those as best you can; roads, housing, infrastructure and education, especially from families of children with additional needs. Then you're involved in community development projects which cover a huge sphere of activity.

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

It has to be considered in everything the council does.

Who in a political sphere has influenced you the most?

Obviously I was reared in a political family and witnessed first hand the work my father did. For that matter my mother was also very political and still is.

I think that ethic of public service is core to how we were reared. Political figures I admire vary from, in Fianna Fáil, de Valera, Lemass, and also very much the likes of Albert Reynolds and John Hume. Then, as a regular visitor to Boston, I read all things related to JFK.