‘Nothing has improved’: Fianna Fáil election candidates grapple with criticism in Swords

“Is that the President?” asks a teenager to his three friends, who are standing on Main Street in Swords, Co Dublin, as Tánaiste Micheál Martin and other members of the Fianna Fáil party pass by on a canvass of the local area.

He’s canvassing the area on a weekday evening, in advance of local elections on Friday , alongside Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, MEP Barry Andrews and local councillors Brigid Manton and Darragh Butler.

“It’s been largely positive so far. It’s a bit slower when the Tánaiste and the Minister are out, because everyone wants to stop them and speak to them,” Butler jokes.

Outside a pharmacy on the street, one woman tells the Minister for Housing what she’d most like to see is an improvement in the affordability of housing in the country. “That’s what we’re hoping to do,” he says, handing her a flyer.

Housing has by far been the biggest issue on the doors, says Butler.

“I think we’re making great progress, but I’m just honest with them and I tell them it’s going to be another five to 10 years before we start catching up.”

Another big issue for voters on a local level is the Metrolink, Butler adds, and the Swords cultural quarter which will bring a new library and theatre to the area.

“That’s going to take off this year and take two years to build. I think it’ll be the making of Swords,” he says.

A woman named Kelly, who speaks to some of the candidates at a bus stop on Main Street, says she won’t be voting for Fianna Fáil in the upcoming elections because “nothing has improved” in terms of housing.

“I’m born and bred in Swords and I won’t be voting Fianna Fáil. It’s to do with housing. I would’ve said Sinn Féin, but now I’m second-guessing that as well,” she says.

Despite some criticism from voters on the topic of housing, Butler feels the canvass has been “largely positive” so far.

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“People are raising local issues like cycling lanes, national issues like housing and sometimes European issues, but not that much,” says Andrews.

“I don’t think that’s unusual, you’d find that in most member states. But I think more and more people are engaging. I campaigned in 2019 and there’s an advantage to being an incumbent as an MEP candidate because you know the issues better.”

But there has been a “tension” in the political atmosphere recently, Andrews says, with younger candidates, and particularly younger women, “very intimidated by some of the hostility”.

Andrews hasn’t personally experienced any hostility, he says, but it’s an issue that needs to be addressed so candidates are not put off running in future elections.

Other than housing, immigration has been “a huge issue” for voters but it has come up less than expected on the doors, Andrews says.

“It’s been a huge issue in Europe for the last 10 years and it’s taken us that time to get to the migration asylum pact. So there’s a lot of people in Europe for whom the issue is settled because it took so long. The issue now is national implementation,” he says.

He’s referring to a planned overhaul of the asylum system to deal with immigration after the European Parliament approved a new policy to harden the bloc’s borders after years of deadlock.

The party members canvass several local businesses on the street, including the gym, a barbershop and an Asian takeaway restaurant.

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At Pomodorino pizza restaurant, owner Maria Cinelli says “supporting local businesses” is her primary concern in the upcoming vote.

Housing and safety on the streets have been among her considerations in who to vote for, too. She isn’t sure who she will vote for yet.

“We’ve been open seven years here now but we’re really feeling the pinch. We’re in a crisis with the cost of living, VAT rates gone up, no grants,” she says.

Born in Ireland to Italian parents who emigrated here in the 1950s, Cinelli has “always lived on the Northside” and bought a home in Swords in recent years.

“Politicians have been going around at the doors, I live locally and they’ve called in, and into our restaurant, but I don’t feel listened to about this. We’re literally putting all our efforts into just keeping the business going.”