Housing, busy roads and a new secondary school for Clara - issues for Cllr Feehan Smollen on the canvass trail

Housing, busy roads, and a new secondary school for Clara are just some of the issues Independent Councillor Sandy Feehan-Smollen has been encountering on her door to door canvass.

This is the first time for Cllr Feehan Smollen to contest a local election. She was co-opted onto Offaly County Council after her husband Ken Smollen stepped down due to illness.

''It's going brilliantly. I'm delighted with the response at the doors. It couldn't be better, people have been so kind and genuinely delighted to see me, which is amazing for me,'' said Cllr Smollen.

''All the usual issues around housing are coming up. Housing is a huge priority for everyone, even older people would be talking about housing for their own grandchildren, asking where they are going to live and what they will do for homes. Younger couples are struggling to get on the property ladder.''

''I was in Tullamore last night and the priorities there are the state of the roads, the state of the streets, down Patrick street, and William Street. I was on the Daingean Road, they very worried about the increased traffic flow and the speed of the traffic on the road. It's one of the priorities out there,'' she said.

''One lady brought it up to me about the old abandoned buildings around Tullamore. She wondered what the plans for refurbishment and regeneration were to bring them back to use. We don't want all these abandoned buildings around the town. It's a bad reflection on the town. These are the things that are important in the Tullamore electoral area. I would be in agreement with them, road safety is huge. We see it every weekend, the numbers rising and the fatalities on our roads. We need to do something.''

Meanwhile she says that Clara's town plan is ''coming along very well. We are going to see a bright new future for Clara. The Masterplan will bring huge changes to the town. We have had huge changes with the streetscape scheme. It has brought new life to the town. It was a great initiative by the Clara Tidy Towns and Offaly County Council. ''

If she gets elected Cllr Feehan Smollen says housing will be her priority. ''No child should have to worry about where they will put their head down at night. Every child should be able to get a good night's sleep in their own home. Every child needs a place to call home.''

Everyone here in Clara will say, it's the new secondary school. It's so important. The land was purchased in 2020 and here we are in the middle of 2024 and not a sod turned.

That has to be pushed along, every other town in the county has a new school. The children have been too long operating out of prefabs.''

The new school is to be built at Drayton Villa, the site of the old parochial house.

''It was the first thing Ken did when he became a councillor and that was to put forward a new plan for the Drayton Villa site. It's situated between the two primary schools Scoil Phroinsias Naofa and Scoil Bhride. At the back they have access to Clara GAA club it's a perfect site.''

Another priority is seeing the new houses finished and allocated at Raheen in Clara. They are due to be finished by Christmas and will provide 38 new homes.

''We have people on housing waiting lists not just a few months, some are there for a long long time. We need to ask ourselves what is happening here, what we are waiting for. We will have to be more imaginative, get out there, and try to get people into homes,'' concludes Cllr Feehan Smollen.