Presidential hopefuls at Kerry County Council including (right to left) Gavin Duffy, Jimmy Smyth, Gemma O’Doherty and William Delaney
This lunchtime.
On RTÉ Radio One’s News at One.
Paschal Sheehy reported from Kerry where several presidential hopefuls addressed county councillors – including journalist Gemma O’Doherty – in a bid to secure a nomination for the presidency.
Before playing a clip of Ms O’Doherty speaking to members of the media, Mr Sheehy told show host Claire Byrne:
“Gemma O’Doherty is running on an anti-corruption platform. Now, she refused to discuss with us, afterwards, her reason for raising, sorry..she refused to discuss with us her allegation that Veronica Guerin had been murdered by the State. But she did go into the reasons why she is running for a nomination for he presidency with us.”
Ms O’Doherty then said:
“Well, I believe that the Irish people are greatly concerned about the toxic culture of corruption and cronyism that has infested our state. And I think there is huge concern about the fact that their taxes are being squandered by this government on a daily basis. I feel an awful lot of citizens have been denied the right to truth and justice. They have great concerns about the functioning of our criminal justice system.
“They feel they have been denied the right to a decent healthcare system, to affordable housing. I’m greatly concerned about the crisis of homelessness in our state and really I think that people feel that there’s a disconnect between the political elite, the media and citizens on the ground.
“And these are the areas that I want to raise and I believe that the presidency can be a sanctuary for people who feel disenfranchised and feel alienated from the governing elite in this country.”
Listen back in full here.
Meanwhile…
Thank you to the Councillors of Meath for giving me the first nomination in the 2018 Presidential Election. #Aras18 #Aras2018
— Gavin Duffy (@GavinDuffy) September 3, 2018
Top Pic: Kerry County Council
