FG presidential candidate Humphreys stresses community at Ploughing

HEATHER Humphreys, the Fine Gael candidate for the presidency, said that community, unity and opportunity will be her themes if she wins next month's election.

Ms Humphreys was speaking at the National Ploughing in Screggan where she was accompanied by some of the party's councillors in Offaly Neil Feighery (pictured below with the candidate and Nina Carberry MEP), Eleanor Clendennen and Hugh Egan.

The Fine Gael candidate said of the Ploughing: “This is a great celebration of rural life and rural Ireland and all of the excitement that goes with it, whether it's the innovation, the new machinery, the food products, everything about it what I love about rural Ireland. It's such a showcase.”

“There are so many people here, they're all in good form, it's lovely to meet them and I have to say they've been very welcoming and very supportive and encouraging me about my run for the presidency.

“I was reared on a farm and my mother used to tell me there's not a job you can't do and I believed that, whether it was milking cows or looking after and feeding calves, whatever it was that had to be done, making hay and silage and all that stuff.

“I'm married to a farmer and I can't claim I do too much for him but if he's stuck I help him out. Rural Ireland is in my DNA and when I was Minister for Rural and Community Development I loved every minute of it. It was great to get out and see people and see the communities. This here is about community and it's about coming together.”

Former Fine Gael minister Denis Naughten, Roscommon, who later became an independent representative, confirms his support for Heather Humphreys at the Ploughing

Asked about the commentary on her family links with the Orange Order, the Monaghan woman stated: “I see my role as a unifying president. A president who brings people together. There's a lot of divisions in our society, whether that's in this country or on a cross border basis, I want people to come together, I want them to have those hard conversations and sometimes those hard conversations can be had in a private forum.”

She also recalled a previous president nominated by Fianna Fail, Mary MacAleese: “Mary MacAleese was a wonderful president and she brought so many people together and she did a huge amount of work on a cross border basis. And I have to say Bertie Ahern did great work for the peace process as well and we have to recognise those people and what they did and I want to build on that. I want to extend the hand of friendship to people in Northern Ireland, whether it's from a nationalist tradition or a Unionist tradition.

“I want to work with them and try and move this forward. I believe we will have a united Ireland but not until we have a united people where they want to come together and live with your neighbour, in good friendly neighbourliness.

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“I've relations in Northern Ireland, I've been over and back the border and I know them all well.”

The candidate spoke about her primary theme: “I want community, unity and opportunity. When I talk about community I'm talking about all the communities across this country, the volunteers, the men's sheds, the GAA, the agricultural shows, they're all run by volunteers, they make a huge contribution. They' the glue that holds our society together. I want to support them, I want to speak up for them, I want to recognise them and I want to thank them and say to them, keep doing what you're doing and get more people involved.”