My activities prior to the election

Sometimes, it seems that County Councillors are only visible in the run-up to an election. They appear in the six months before an election, and then they struggle to make an impact after that when voters are not paying as much attention. That’s not my idea of a local representative… even before I ever thought about running for election, I was always busy around the town from early morning to late night because I fully believe in doing my absolute best for Ashbourne and the people in the town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFmfEyXR4Mw

I have grown up in Ashbourne and have seen it grow from a very small, rural village into a busy, modern, exciting town. I love the place that I was born and raised in, so my priority is to do whatever I can to help improve quality of life here!

I have run my own business, Ashbourne Auto Clinic, for over a decade, so protecting local businesses and shopping local has been a personal interest of mine that I have heavily invested my time into through the Ashbourne Business Network.

Seeing a need to keep jobs and business in the local area, I became a founding member of the Ashbourne Business Network, which has kept 200,000 euro-worth of business in Ashbourne over the last 12 months.

Aside from the business end of things, I am equally as passionate about helping local charities, whether that is campaigning for them, volunteering, donating, hosting events, or completing challenges in aid of them. Some of the charities (or community groups) that I have directly helped or am involved in include:

The Youth Café;
Oxfam;
The St. Vincent DePaul;
Lions Club;
The Tidy Towns;
Ashbourne Men's Shed.

ALSO

Organising the St. Patricks Day Parade;
Supporting the local Chamber of Commerce;
A number of other groups in the area.

Many people involved in these groups will know that I gave my support, when I could, long before I ever thought of running for the local Council. My support included:

Helping to organise and participate in the Santa Fun Run to raise funds for local charities at Christmas;
Taking a central volunteer role in organising the St. Patricks Day Parade for the last four years, helping it become one of the largest and most-anticipated festivals in Meath;
Taking the unpaid role of President of the local Chamber of Commerce, and doing my best to fight for the issues local businesses are concerned about.

As President of the local Chamber of Commerce, I joined others in an effort to improve the business environment for Ashbourne, including:

Strengthening Ashbourne’s connections with other towns;
Helping local initiatives get funding;
Assisting local businesses with a range of issues;
Developing strong connections that would help me as a councillor achieve our goals for Ashbourne and the surrounding areas;
Getting involved in various initiatives to keep Ashbourne’s estates and business parks clean and tidy;
Supporting the local Youth Café by organising the annual 6&10K Road Race and Fun Run event every summer. This event generates in the region of €4,000 every year!
A range of other projects.

Many of these initiatives I worked on improved the quality of life for me, my family, and our fellow residents of Ashbourne and the surrounding areas. I have developed the skills to get things done in the local community by working with local groups that make the most of very scarce resources, and I am very proud of the results I have helped achieve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20q-4TAIgEY

Since being elected in May 2014, I have been able to commit myself more fully to the people of Ashbourne and I know that the work that I have done since then has had a significant, positive impact on the town. I look forward to every day because every morning brings forth new possibilities and opportunities for further betterment and improvement of my area.