Senator bullish that Dáil bid will be third time lucky

With Fine Gael riding high in the polls and widely expected to lead the next government, it is widely acknowledged that for local Senator Nicky McFadden it's a make or break election. It's now or never, as she hopes to make it a case of third time lucky to become a TD for the constituency. For a woman who freely admits that politics is her life, what has changed to make a Dáil seat a possibility apart from the obvious party bounce in the polls? “The big thing that has changed is that I'm so well recognised in the county now. I've been canvassing in Ballymore and Castletowngeoghegan and I'm instantly recognised and that's very positive and encouraging. Maybe, it takes that long for people to get to know you,†she told the Westmeath Independent. “I believe my Oireachtas profile has increased my overall profile because I'm raising issues pertinent to the whole county like Mullingar hospital, making sure it doesn't lose services and trying to get the 41 beds closed opened again, as well as highlighting issues in relation to social welfare, which I'm spokesperson for.†“I'm extremely confident, I believe we have a wonderful policy platform, great spokespeople, and a strong front bench, people like Leo Varadkar, Richard Bruton and James Reilly. I'm very proud of our health policy, I think it will get rid of the two-tier system and we will have healthcare equality for everyone,†she said, pointedly not mentioning leader Enda Kenny in her musings. So what of the public's major reservations about Enda Kenny as an effective leader, as evidenced in the current leaders debate debacle in which many perceive him to be running scared, albeit from a winning position with everything to lose rather than anything to gain. “I don't see that Vincent Browne should control or set the political agenda, I think he has nothing to lose by debating with them, he has said he will but he is just not going to be coerced into it and that's the word I'd use. I think Enda Kenny has no problem debating with the best of them and he'll be great,†she said. She admitted that she has never encountered such absolute heartache on the doorsteps of the Longford/Westmeath constituency and what she is simply trying to do is offer hope to the electorate, through what she called Fine Gael's new politics which she says are open and honest. “I met a woman last week in Ballymore last week her daughter had gone to Australia that morning and she was absolutely devastated. When is she going to return? What is she going to return to? How long is it going to take to recover? It's a dreadful legacy, the Fianna Fáil legacy.†“I can give hope to people that you can get out of this quagmire that the recession is,†she countered. “We need straight talking now, tell the people how it is, don't make false promises and give good leadership and that's what's going to happen.†This new politics phrase crops up again and again in the conversation as Senator McFadden rejects entirely my questioning that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are actually very close in terms of ideology and policies, taking away their differing civil war roots. “It's been a party of cronyism, slapping each other on the back and the Galway tent. It was party first and country second and that is certainly not the case with Fine Gael under any circumstances,†she said strongly, slating the perception that all parties look after their own while in government. “That's gone. It's new politics now. We cannot ever face the people again if we don't live up to the mark and I believe that has to happen in the first 100 days. Enda Kenny has said he will put referendum to the people on the Seanad, Ministers salaries are going to be capped, pensions are going to be capped, we'll get rid of the state cars and the 146 quangos, all of that has to happen. As a current member of the Upper House of the Oireachtas what should happen to the chamber in the years ahead? Senator McFadden, a mother-of-two, favours reform instead of full abolition, suggesting that perhaps in the future membership of the Seanad should be an honour rather than a fully paid role with Senators in the future just being paid expenses. “I'm an advocate that it should remain, not the way it is now, perhaps we should see it as an honour without even getting paid to listen to what lobby groups have to say, engage with the MEPS and to influence policy and legislation.†“There's a lot of time for debate in there and there have been some excellent debate. I would have had several amendments to the Social Welfare bill but because FF have the numbers they weren't accepted. So I think there is a role there to influence legislation and to have long and healthy open debates.†The old political adage of Bill Clinton that “it's the economy stupid†that decides elections is certainly proving itself true as Nicky said jobs is faraway the biggest issue in Westmeath. “Parents educating their children are fearful as to what will be there when they finish, spending all this money educating nurses and engineers and then exporting them it's such a waste. We're going to create 100,000 jobs by selling off state assets,†something she admits is controversial, for instance some in the ESB are not happy. “It means that we will have money to create new jobs,†she said countered my argument that state jobs are not sustainable. “I would say we seriously need a leg up at the minute, there has to be some intervention from the government now to inspire confidence and get the banks lending again,†adding that they also want to support struggling Athlone businesses with a PRSI holiday and a reduction in VAT. Fine Gael, she said, was committed to the retention of Custume Barracks despite plans to reduce the public service through natural wastage and voluntary redundancies. However, with the entry of the IMF and the EU into our affairs, surely any new government is hamstrung by the already agreed four year plan, not so according to the popular Senator, who said they can't reverse the cuts but can get a better deal. “What I'm saying on the doorsteps is that it would be dishonest and disingenuous of me to say that we're going to fix it all overnight because we're not, it's going to take time. What we will do is tell the truth and try and renegotiate the interest rate with the IMF. It will have to be negotiated with every country, it's going to take time and be an effort but it will be worth it because FF negotiated a very high rate that is going to crucify us and if we don't renegotiate, it going to make life very difficult for us to recover.†Empathy is Nicky's calling card and she continually emphasised throughout the interview that she can identify with the public because she has struggled financially, dealt with the fallout of a failed marriage and risen from the ashes. “I can just try and give them hope. We will turn it around. We have the people, the policies and the will to do it, it's different, it's new politics, it can never be the same. I also consider I have expertise, life experience, and I represent people on the ground and I am 100% connected with the heartache and struggles that people are going through at the minute because I've gone through it myself.†Her biggest issues if elected is pushing for more manufacturing industry in South Westmeath, getting people off the dole through Fine Gael internship programme and a revamp of the health system through their Universal health care system, the Dutch model which she feels mean efficient hospitals like Mullingar are rewarded for their outcomes as the money follows the patient. She dismissed any suggestion that the individual hospitals with their own budgets will localise and politicise the system bringing it back to the old health board issues. She also wants to ensure Portiuncula retains its services and keeps the A&E open. “I do wake up with pressure in my chest at what we've to sort out. It's mammoth, absolutely huge, but I will be advocating strongly for this area, especially jobs, health and to stop social welfare fraud. It's about giving honest government now, things have changed,†she concluded.