Newsletter May 2022

A message from An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar

I hope you are keeping well. This month I want to update you on our Stronger, Safer Communities campaign.

Being a campaigning party means that we are always engaging with the public, listening and communicating directly with voters on any issue that concerns them.

We have identified a small number of themes on which all members of the party will be given an opportunity to work. This includes public meetings, roundtable meetings, surveys, leaflets, press releases and social media working with our TDs, Senators and MEPs and councillors.

In the first instance, we will campaign on the theme of Stronger, Safer Communities. This allows us to speak to the importance of community, to promote the considerable investment in urban and rural regeneration, job creation, sporting facilities and additional Gardaí that has been led by Fine Gael.

We believe the Stronger, Safer Communities campaign should be less about what has been achieved and more about what we can and should do next. So, we want to hear from the public and community groups about that and then make it happen.

I have held two roundtable meetings so far on Stronger, Safer Communities with local businesses and community groups. Most recently in Mountmellick, Co Laois and, last month, over 40 organisations attended a roundtable meeting with me in Mayo. On Friday 8th April the Parliamentary Party met online from connected hubs in communities across the country. This was the first time a single meeting was held virtually using the connected hubs. It helped put some focus on all the recent investment in remote working hubs and how home and hybrid working creates opportunities for communities to thrive again and for better work/life balance.

We have set up a new webpage for this campaign, you should take a look - https://www.finegael.ie/strongersafercommunities/

Talk to you again soon.

Leo

Fine Gael’s Agriculture and Rural Development Conference 🚜

Colm Markey, Fine Gael MEP for Midlands-North-West and member of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Fine Gael’s Agriculture and Rural Development Conference takes place in Tullamore on May 7th. This is an occasion for members to discuss crucial matters relating to the future of rural development and agriculture.

It’s a particularly difficult time for the agricultural sector. As we recover from the impact of Brexit and the pandemic, new challenges have emerged. The war in Ukraine is having a direct impact on farmers while the climate emergency is accelerating our transition to a more sustainable model of farming.

The climate debate can pit farmers against environmentalists, but what many fail to realise is that farmers are the original environmentalists. They are custodians of our land and understand - more than anyone - the need to adapt. We need to put the message out there that farmers are part of the climate solution.

I am proud of the work done by Fine Gael in recent years to address these challenges, but we need to re-connect with people on the ground and ensure they are aware of the actions we are taking to protect the sector and revitalise rural Ireland. ‘Our Rural Future’ and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund are good examples of the type of schemes we can promote and we must keep up the momentum.

Fine Gael are fighting Ireland’s case in the European Parliament - particularly at the Agricultural Committee. It is possible to meet our climate targets while safeguarding food security and supporting our farmers. We face opposition; from those who don’t understand how farming works, but whether it be CAP, animal welfare or the Farm to Fork Strategy, we’ve put forward practical, common-sense solutions and have made real progress.

Change brings opportunity and Ireland can be at the forefront of how we evolve and adapt new systems that ensure we continue to be the most sustainable agricultural model in Europe - but we need to engage with all stakeholders to get it right.

After the conference in Tullamore ends at 5pm, we will be holding an AGM for the newly convened Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Forum, which will play a leading role in driving Fine Gael’s support for rural Ireland and for the agriculture and food sectors.

I look forward to engaging with you further on this matter on May 7th.

A better and fairer Leaving Certificate for students 📖

Senator Aisling Dolan, Seanad spokesperson on Education, Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science

Fine Gael is committed to having a world class education system and to giving everyone a chance to achieve their full potential. The next generation are our future visionaries, leaders, entrepreneurs and achievers in Ireland. As a party, we believe the Leaving Certificate exam has many strengths as recognised by academia and industry. However, a single exam is not testament to the true effort and achievements of students over a two-year period.

During the pandemic, our students and teaching staff broke the mould of traditional exams and in extreme circumstances forged a new continuous assessment model. This process of review brought together all educational stakeholders, parents and for the first time included the student voice.

Change was accelerated and now Government has unveiled a plan for reform of Senior Cycle Education, which aims to empower students to meet the challenges of the 21st century, enrich the student experience, build on our strengths and reduce student stress levels.

My colleague, Richard Bruton, started this reform as Minister for Education in the last Government to give students more options and choice to match their interests and abilities.

The proposed model of reform will ensure there are better, more flexible routes from school into a range of education and training settings, not just university, and straight into employment, should that be a student’s choice.

With regard to assessment, written examination will be worth a maximum 60% of the total marks in any subject. The other 40% will be made of up another form of assessment which might be project work or practical exam. We believe this will give a more accurate account of a student’s efforts and take away from the traditionally stressful all or nothing exam.

There will also be new subjects for students to choose from and an updating of content for subjects across Senior Cycle, beginning on a pilot basis in September 2024. A new, more practical Transition Year (TY) programme will also be developed with taster apprenticeship training modules.

The redeveloped programme will be informed by the views of both students and teachers, who are the backbone of our education system and have such a positive impact on students’ lives.

Why not be part of the pilot roll-out in your area? A selection of schools called “Network Schools” will be invited by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment to lead out on the changes first. I would strongly encourage schools that are interested to write to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) and ask to sign up - https://ncca.ie/en/contact/

Building a Safer Society

Yemi Adenuga, Navan Councillor and Chair of Fine Gael Intercultural

A number of violent incidents against people on our streets in recent months has shocked us all to our core and has generated a national conversation about how to stamp out all forms of prejudice, bigotry, racism and homophobia in our society.

Fine Gael in Government is building stronger, safer communities and a big part of this is making sure that everyone is safe both in their homes and on the streets.

I recently hosted a public meeting in my constituency of Navan where participants shared their insights on how to make our communities better for people to live, work, run a business, raise a family, and grow old. One of such contributions was the need for members of communities to collectively participate in looking out for one another, be one another's keeper and not be bystanders when a crime occurs, but report it instead.

My colleague, Justice Minister Helen McEntee, is committed to ensuring the Gardaí have the resources they need to hold the perpetrators of crime to account and also to having legislation in place that sends a clear message to all in our society that prejudice, bigotry and racism will not be tolerated. The Minister will be bringing a draft Hate Crime Bill to Government for approval in the coming weeks, as reflected in our Programme for Government commitment.

I am also currently working on a project called 'CULTURE PALS' that will complement the Hate Crime Bill. This project will, among other things, educate people in communities on practical issues like recognising, acknowledging and addressing biases and prejudice, and helping them to have difficult conversations with people who are different from themselves in order to engage in a friendly manner. The aim is to provide practical, realistic and actionable tools to assist people to build more inclusive and safer communities.

I encourage everyone to get involved once this project kicks off in the next few months.

Ireland is a wonderful, diverse and inclusive society and the actions of those who abuse and attack others because of their own prejudices, either as a result of a person’s sexual orientation, ethnic origin, or any other part of their identity, must be strongly condemned and punished. And we must do all we can to prevent it through education, re-orientation training and taking collective responsibility.

Ten things you didn’t know about…. Ciaran Cannon, Galway East TD

Ciaran Cannon TD

1. People you most admire:

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela. I was privileged to visit his cell on Robben Island, it measures 7 feet by 9 feet, and he was incarcerated there for 18 years. He showed incredible resilience and resourcefulness in never conceding to hatred, but instead focused on reconciliation, ultimately leading to the end of apartheid, and peace in his homeland.

2. Favourite holiday destination:

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees, featuring simply majestic landscapes, rural mountain villages that seem frozen in time, and some of the world's most iconic bike rides.

3. Greatest personal achievement:

Earning the trust of the people of East Galway who have chosen me as one of their Dáil representatives on three occasions. Reporting on our most recent general election, The Irish Times described me as "the veteran" of my constituency, something that had me scrambling to check my date of birth!

4. Favourite novel:

The Heart's Invisible Furies - John Boyne

5. Favourite musical artist/group:

Prefab Sprout

Prefab Sprout.

6. Professional goal for 2022:

Convince our Government to establish an online portal for the submission of video footage of dangerous driving on our roads / ensure that our national planning policy continues to support the development of rural communities.

7. Best advice you ever received:

Be yourself, always. Never concede.

8. Desert island product must have:

The internet (with Elon's Starlink, it's now possible!)

9. Favourite part of your job:

Working with committed community activists to deliver impactful community facilities, thus improving our quality of life across East Galway.

10. Three people on your ultimate dinner party guest list:

Kate Bush
  • Paddy McAloon
  • Kate Bush
  • Martin Hayes

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