Losing out in the Euro election poll
IT'S hard to credit that it's just ten short years since Limerick swept the boards in the European Parliament elections in Munster, boasting three of the four candidates returned to represent the province in Brussels in 1999.
After an exciting campaign that injected renewed life, enthusiasm and competition into local politics, the triumphant trio of Gerard Collins (FF), John Cushnahan (FG) and Pat Cox (Independent), went on to make significant contributions. One of them, Pat Cox became the first Irish president of the Parliament.
Heady days indeed. But is Limerick's contribution about to become little more than a footnote in Europe? Sadly, we haven't had a Limerick MEP elected since then, and the likelihood of doing so in this campaign, is remote.
Every road into the city these days is littered with posters of strong Cork-based candidates fighting the forthcoming European elections, while Limerick appears largely indifferent, not only to the territorial invasion, but to Europe itself. The fight seems to have gone out of our local political elite and none of the main political parties here seems to think that Brussels is, any longer, a prize worth fighting for. It's certainly not worth the bother of bringing out the big guns!
This is highly unfortunate. For all its faults and failings, Europe has been good for Limerick, economically and socially, and will, whether we like it or not, continue to exert a major influence on our future and the futures of our 500 million fellow Europeans. If, in the face of such numbers, the Limerick electorate feels a certain disconnect with the corridors of power in Brussels, surely it would serve the main political parties better to try and reconnect us, rather than yield to our apathy.
It may sound parochial, but we need a strong Limerick voice in Europe - even more now than we did a decade ago. Some of the candidates have been at pains to stress their commitment to and connection with Limerick and the Mid-West - and undoubtedly some of those credentials stack up better than others. The people will decide on June 5 which of them bests represents our interests here. But it's not quite the same thing as a bona fide Limerick contender, is it?
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Thursday 17 May 2012
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