Bacik confident about Labour's ability to regain ground in Westmeath

Labour leader Ivana Bacik is confident that the party can become a major force in Westmeath politics once again.

Deputy Bacik was in Mullingar yesterday, Monday, for her first visit to the town since she replaced Alan Kelly as party leader in March.

Speaking to the media in Gilleran’s Pub, where she was meeting local party members, she said one of Labour’s objectives is to regain the Dáil seat in Longford Westmeath that it lost in the last general election and to increase its number of county councillors in the next local election.

This can be achieved, she said, by "rebuilding and growing the party" and by choosing the "right candidates with the right message".

"It’s very heartening for me to see how strong the local organisation is here. This was a Labour stronghold and we still have two great councillors in Johnnie Penrose and Denis Leonard, and we’ve got brilliant area reps like Liam Gilleran and Fidelma Bennett. We got other brilliant area reps in the region also, like Cathy Whelan in Rochfortbridge.

"We have a very strong local network and we will looking to build on that going into the local elections two years away, to grow and increase our representation on the county council and then from the local elections we’ll be looking to go into the general election from a position of greater strength.

"It’s certainly a big challenge and a big task, but it is an exciting one. At the weekend, we in Labour celebrated our 110th anniversary. We are the oldest political party in the state and have been through many ups and downs.

"I have been a member since the late ‘80s, so I have seen some of those ups and downs, but what always brings us back is the strength of our membership and the strength of our network across the country, which a lot of other parties of the left don’t have."

Deputy Bacik says that the government’s handling of the housing crisis shows the need for a "strong centre left social democratic voice" in Irish politics.

"In the wasted years of prosperity that we’ve had since 2016, when Labour left office, we’ve seen a failure to deliver when it comes to the construction of housing, which is needed to get us over this crisis.

"This housing crisis that is pinching at every single point. You have young professional couples who can’t afford to buy houses, which means they stay in rental accommodation for longer. You have people such as students who might want short-term rentals and can’t get them. You have people who have been squeezed out into homelessness.

"This morning with [Labour area organiser] Fidelma Bennett I met people working on the front line of domestic violence and homelessness. Those are the people who are most affected because there are no homes available for anyone. There is a lack of supply.

"Local authorities aren’t building any more and that’s why you need a strong, centre-left voice, that says that state must and can deliver. That’s what has been lacking since Labour left office."

Publican Liam Gilleran is Labour’s local area representative in the Mullingar area and plans to run in the next local elections in 2024.

He says that it is "critical" that the party build on the Labour "feelgood factor in this constituency".

"There is huge feelgood out there to get Labour back up there again. There is a floating vote and I agree that we can capture that with Fidelma, myself, Denis, Johnnie and all of our other colleagues that we have."

Mr Gilleran says that he is "disgusted" with how the current and previous governments have handled the housing crisis.

"The message that we [Labour] want to give is a message of hope. The sooner we confront these issues in a very real way, the better it is going to be for all of us," he said.