Fine Gael adds Cllr Patrick O’Neill to Carlow-Kilkenny for General Election

The Fine Gael executive council has added Cllr Patrick O’Neill as a candidate for the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency in the next General Election.

Fine Gael’s executive council met on Tuesday night in Dublin and added Mr O’Neill to the ticket in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency.

Mr O’Neill, a 31-year-old farmer and sales executive from Bennettsbridge, has been a member of Kilkenny County Council since 2014.

“Representing my constituency is something I feel passionate about and I believe I can make a difference for the people that I represent. I want to offer the people of Carlow/Kilkenny a new voice with new ideas and try to restore people’s faith in those that represent them,” he said.

“There are many areas on which I’ll campaign. Carlow and Kilkenny has always been a step behind the rest of the country when it comes to job creation and third level education.

“For the past decade, there has been a lot of talk about forming the Technological University for the South-East. It is imperative that this moves forward to ensure our youth are afforded the same opportunities as others nationwide.

“It is important we encourage job creation in this constituency. I will work to ensure that entrepreneurship is not a burden on those willing to create new markets for themselves and provide employment. As a government we must put as much supports in place as possible.

“An area I am passionate about is housing. We need to provide affordable housing for those looking to get on the property ladder and also ensure we provide the relevant levels of social housing per annum to meet with our housing list needs,” Mr O’Neill said.

“Coming from a farm and being actively involved in farming I know the struggles in rural communities, particularly the beef sector. I want to work to ensure that we are well represented post-Brexit, have a strong voice during CAP reform and ensure proper supports are finally put in place for the beef sector.

“As a former Mayor I know the importance of Kilkenny city to our county as a whole. I want to work to ensure our city has a viable long term plan to ensure we build on past success and put our current businesses to the forefront and ringfence their survival,” he added.

Already selected at last year’s Fine Gael selection convention to run in the Carlow-Kilkenny constituency were Minister John Paul Phelan and Deputy Pat Deering.

Mr O’Neill served as Mayor of Kilkenny (2016/17) and currently works as a sales executive for local company Transfermate Global Payments. Patrick has studied engineering and agriculture and spent five years working for Bord Bia doing farm inspections prior to his term as Mayor.

Patrick is Chairman of Bennettsbridge Tidy Towns and is a member of Bennettsbridge GAA where he serves as county board rep. He is also a member of local IFA and Macra Na Feirme, East End Utd soccer club, Gowran Park Golf club and Kilkenny tennis club.

Mr O’Neill is currently on the campaign trail for the local elections in May for the Callan/Thomastown area. His father, Pat (senior), a former senator, is a Fine Gael candidate in the Castlecomer local election area for May’s local elections after being added to the ticket at a meeting of the executive council earlier this month.