Dolan congratulates Fine Gael Local Election candidates for Roscommon & Boyle MD areas

Four Fine Gael candidates, recently selected for the 2024 Local Elections for the Roscommon and Boyle Municipal Districts, have been congratulated by Senator Aisling Dolan.

“Congratulations to Robbie McConn and Gareth Scahill who are putting their names forward to represent communities in Roscommon and Castlerea. Both candidates were nominated at the Fine Gael selection convention in the Kilbride Community Centre. Both Robbie and Gareth are extremely active in their local communities and I know their focus is on funding and investment for local clubs and community groups. I look forward to working with them on key projects in Roscommon town and Castlerea,” she said.

Senator Micheál Carrigy, based in Longford, was the guest chair for the evening.

In Elphin, Cllr Liam Callaghan and new candidate Dympna Daly Finn were nominated at the Fine Gael Boyle Selection convention. “Liam has much experience in Roscommon County Council representing his region and a track record of working with local groups to secure funding for so many projects. 

He is working closely with Fine Gael colleague Cllr John Naughten in the Athlone area,” said Senator Dolan. “Dympna is a new candidate from Arigna with lots of enthusiasm and vision of all she would like to achieve for communities in North Roscommon. She has a background in healthcare and takes an active role as a parent in her local school’s board of management. Congratulations to both candidates and to their families and friends for all their support,” added the senator.

“All of these candidates want more for their local communities, that voices in towns across Roscommon are heard at local government level. It is great to see new people coming forward to be public representatives. We have a strong team to go forward for the Local Elections in 2024.” 

New candidate Dympna Daly Finn from Arigna said that she was delighted to be selected to represent the people in her local communities of Arigna, Keadue, Ballyfarnon, Drumboylan, Cootehall, Cortober, Boyle, and all the other areas within the electoral area.

“Working with Cllr Callaghan in North Roscommon we have a shared purpose of making a difference for future generations,” she said. “Having two young children, this is very important to me to see my children stay in rural Ireland and have successful careers through more apprenticeships and job opportunities in the North Roscommon area.” Dympna said that she wanted to be a fresh voice for Fine Gael and a first point of contact in her local community.

She attended Greaghnafarna National School, which is a small rural school in the area, and has served on the board of management for the last four years. She also attended Drumshanbo Vocational School where she completed her Leaving Cert in 1994. She has also completed a course in Psychology through Vita House Roscommon and NUI Maynooth. She currently works for the HSE in Sligo University Hospital as an auxiliary nurse /healthcare assistant in an extremely busy surgical ward.

Dympna added that Arigna was a popular tourist attraction with the Arigna Mining Experience and the Miners Way walks. “Tourism is key to rural areas in Ireland, and I am keen to continue promoting these places and improving facilities for those who use them,” she said.

“Lough key Forest Park in Boyle attracts large numbers year-round, and I would like for the Boyle area to attract more of these tourists into the town to support local businesses, which are key to keeping our towns growing.” She is also seeking more investment to improve local towns and villages to make them safer, improve lighting on footpaths, making them safer to walk on, adding and improving Greenways and Blueways.

She explained that she had decided to run for election as she always had a keen interest in local and national politics. Her late father, James Daly, canvassed with the late councillor Charlie Hopkins and John Connor TD when they served on Roscommon County Council.

“Representing the community is important to me. The local area where I live and the people who live there are important to me. I am keen to get out and meet people and talk to local business about the issues that matter to them and for me to try to act and look to see how the council could introduce new initiatives within the area to try to improve local services and improve existing facilities to make North Roscommon a better place for all.” 

If elected Dympna promises to be there for people and have an open-door policy going forward to listen to people’s views and concerns on the matters that are important to them. She is encouraging everybody to cast their vote next year, so their opinion counts and makes a difference, so they have “a fresh and local voice” and a first point of contact in their community.