30 September 2023
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Labour Party members have selected Peter Horgan to be the candidate to contest the Cork City South East Ward Council vote in June 2024. The selection was done in Blackrock Community Association Hall on Friday night. The South East Ward contains the areas of Blackrock, Mahon, Beaumont, Ballintemple, Ballinlough, Douglas, Maryborough Hill, Donnybrook, Garryduff and Rochestown.
Peter Horgan said:
“I’m delighted to have the backing of my fellow Party members again to contest the election. We’ve worked hard since the 2019 vote to ensure that voters in the South East Ward have an alternative to vote for in 2024.
As a young father and someone who grew up in the ward and lives in this Ward I have an insight to offer at City Hall that is rooted in our community. Five years ago this week I was selected to run for the Party for the first time. Looking back at my speech that night I can see the issues are still the same, to my mind.
We still do not have that riverside link to the city. We do not have a regular standing committee handling large events. The public bike scheme has still not been expanded to Douglas or Blackrock. We still do not have a playground in Blackrock. We still do not have a library in Mahon. Basic signage in Douglas and Blackrock leave a lot to be desired. This is not the sexy side of politics but its the side that needs to be done.
We are losing the sense of what a city council should provide in our communities. The basic provisions of footpaths, roads, transport and public realm, Yes the investment in Marina Park is to be welcomed, 100%. But we must do more.
More playgrounds and play areas for Blackrock, Beaumont, Maryborough Hill, Ballinlough and Rochestown. Basic footpath repairs and the bread and butter of what a Council should be doing, not trips to Korea that have no bearing on the citizens here in Cork. More fines for dog fouling would go a long way also.
A radical overhaul of school transport could take thousands of cars off the road in the south East Ward that currently sees significant traffic in Douglas and Blackrock. The Labour Climate Ticket is costed and must be trialled in Cork city by the government in the forthcoming Budget. The introduction of a monthly climate ticket with unlimited travel could get people out of their cars and onto trains, buses, and trams, just like the trial carried out in Germany last year. Tackling the transport trap in Ireland would be a welcome step in the right direction. We need a public transport champion that will push these incentives and show how beneficial public transport can be for commutes in Cork city for work and school.
There is no real effort to address the very basics of housing and to give a voice to those seeking assistance. Those who need that voice need to be listened to.
That is why I am putting my name on the ballot paper next June. To be a voice for those who cannot shout any longer. The Labour Party is not perfect, no political party is. But what the Labour Party always brought to Cork city was an honesty in the way we dealt with City Hall and with the people. I want to restore that link and be the voice for those who do not have one in my community.
Photo credits George Hatchell
Peter Horgan and Sean Sherlock Labour TD. Photo credits George Hatchell
