Tales from the canvas 2019

“Of course I’ll vote for you” said the man who answered the door to me,  “But first my girlfriend has to have a shower”. “Come in”, he gestured; “I’ll show you the bathroom”

“I’m not so sure about all of this”, I said with the slightest hint of protest.  I must have been canvasing for over an hour that afternoon. We all know the score, never leave the door without a vote.

Up the stairs he marched me to show me the bathroom. Thankfully it was empty as he explained exactly what the problem was. His girlfriend is a local authority tenant. She’d hurt her back and raising her leg was bit awkward for her. She found the side of the bath difficult to manoeuvre when bathing, Her boyfriend was asking me to intervene with the council on her behalf so as to have a shower installed

When I eventually met her my heart sank. She is a pleasant cheery lady who’d just returned from working as a carer. Not the easiest of sells to a local authority engineer in the housing section of the council. Still there’s an election and small hope for the voter is better than no hope at all.

There’s been no election like this one. Local elections tend to be a referendum on the serving government. Five years ago the local election was played out against the backdrop of Phil Hogan’s decision to install water meters, Alan Shatters high handed attitude to Mick Wallace and James Reilly’s cancelling of medical cards to children suffering from cancer.

This one is very different. Few on the doorstep refer to the government. I suspect that many voters would fail to name half of the cabinet, such is the low profile ministers keep with the exception of the Taoiseach and Shane Ross. With Brexit hovering in the back ground many voters understand that normal political rules don’t apply. The novel approach to the likelihood of extra seats at European level is confusing depending on the outcome of Brexit. nobody can be certain.

But that is not to say there are issues. Control is key to politics. No candidate likes to be seen out of step. That’s why some candidates will develop a line of patter about what they believe the main issues are, Often the candidate can be wide of the mark. National issues can be repackaged with a local blás.

The major issue is the neglect of Wexford over the last 5 years and lack of representation. With the honourable exception of George Lawlor, many struggle to name local councillors in Wexford Town. Large parts of town have not seen either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael representatives since the last General Election.  All politics is local. Those voters are not too impressed that decisions taken by the council were taken by councillors they barely know and rarely meet.

Still, there’s 5 more weeks to polling day. Nobody has voted and we’re only starting out on the road. Maybe the lady I met on the hustings may yet get her shower?