Carlow-Kilkenny candidate Malcolm Noonan has expressed his disappointment that County Carlow Chamber of Commerce is urging Carlow voters to give their vote only to Carlow-based candidates in the upcoming General Election, adding that for the past five years of his term, "Carlow has had a Minister in me".
The Chamber launched a ‘Vote Carlow’ campaign last week in a bid to secure two TDs for Co Carlow, with Chamber president Michael Quinn urging the local electorate to give both their number one vote and their preferences to Carlow candidates.
Pointing to his track record representing Carlow, the Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform said he is just as committed to ensuring Carlow and its rural towns and villages are well represented in the Dáil as those located within the boundaries of his home county of Kilkenny, and he believes that maintaining strong connections throughout the wider region is important for Carlow's economic development, and vice versa.
Mr Noonan said: "As public representatives, every candidate needs to be prepared to represent both constituency counties equally and work to foster stronger connections between the counties. To say Carlow residents should only vote for Carlow candidates is one thing, but I would suggest that a more constructive approach would be to vote for candidates who prioritise Carlow. I have done this throughout my term of office as a Minister and a TD.
"I have always actively engaged with the Carlow Chamber, including setting up quarterly meetings with the Chamber from Day 1 of the Covid pandemic to ensure that local businesses had my support during that time and regularly attended community and business events, including the Chambers' own annual businesses awards,” he added.
“I led the call for the Carlow town bus and worked closely with my Green Party colleague, the Minister for Transport, to deliver it. As a graduate of Carlow Technical College, I have always been extremely supportive of the development of the South East Technical University and as Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, I have delivered significant funding to Carlow through the Community Monuments Fund, the Historic Structures Fund and the Built Heritage Investment Scheme. This is in addition to creating a new post for a Carlow Biodiversity Officer and local Biodiversity Action Funding to deliver crucial projects for nature. My Department also funded a €20 million regeneration project for Carlow town through the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF). I also pushed for the funding to restore the railings for Carlow Town Courthouse.
“This is a General Election, not local authority elections or council elections,” Noonan added, “and I am standing to represent the constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny as a national legislator. I would argue that my track record in supporting Carlow is every bit as strong as the sitting Carlow TD and as good as any public representative. I have a great affinity for the county of Carlow, the people, the projects and the work being done there.
“Carlow has always had a minister in me."
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