Ciaran Mullooly in Donegal to meet communities he aims to represent in Europe

Former RTE journalist Ciaran Mullooly is running the upcoming European Parliament elections, and he is out and about in Donegal, meeting community and advocacy groups.

“I am not here claiming to know everything, I am not here to make promises,” he said. “I am here to meet people, to chat to people and to find out more about the issues that are important to them.”A native of Longford, there is no doubting Ciaran’s understanding of rural Ireland and the issues faced by communities across the Midlands North West constituency. 

He began his working life in local media in Longford and Cavan, progressing from proof reader to journalist to deputy editor. From there he went to RTE where he worked for 26 years, primarily as the Midlands correspondent. 

Following his departure from RTE in 2021, he took up a role with the LEADER partnership in County Roscommon.

“I have been involved in community development in a voluntary capacity for 30 years, working with Tidy Towns, local football, Lions Club, farmers groups, and more serious stuff like suicide prevention,” he said. 

“That job in Roscommon suited me. I worked in rural and community development there, working with people who were generally disadvantaged.”From there, Ciaran went to work on a programme called Just Transition in Longford.

“When that job came up, I jumped into it,” he said. “It was about supporting people through life after Bord na Mona, retraining people and helping them to move forward.”

So how does Ciaran plan to use his experience should he be successful in his election bid?

“I have been frustrated by  the European Fund for a long time,” he said. 

“People say to me, ‘why would you want to go to the European Parliament’ and I say that it’s because I want to be in a position to make the rules, to scrutinise the rules. 

“It is very difficult for community groups in rural Ireland to access European State Aid. The rules dictate the level of funds you have to put up in order to get a grant. It is often 50% match funding.

“The people who make these rules are out of touch with rural Ireland. 

“Community groups are struggling just to keep going, particularly after Covid when they lost all of their income streams - all the bingo, sponsored walks, raffles.

“They need a leg up, a helping hand; they need 90% funding if they are to stay in existence, not 50%

“We need a change of State Aid laws. Those laws were put in place for competition reasons but community groups are not in competition with each other. Nobody is battering down the doors of the local Tidy Towns committee looking for their jobs, or saying ‘I want to run the Meals on Wheels’.”Farming is another sector that Ciaran feels is in need of a strong voice in Europe. 

“I am not opposed to the green issues,” he said. “But I do believe that farmers need equity, they need time for transitions to take place. And they are expected to do so much paperwork. They need help with that.

“I really want to simplify the whole European aid process.”

Ciaran’s itinerary includes a trip to Killybegs to meet representatives of the fishing community, and he will also travel to the north of the county to meet people affected by defective concrete blocks. 

“I want to get an understanding of their issues and of what can be done to help,” he said. “There are anomalies in the redress system and I want to speak to people to find out how it is working for them. 

“And I want to get a look at what is happening with the fishing industry, to understand the quota issues and how people are affected, and to get battling for better quotas.”

Ciaran said he believes that fishing needs a stronger voice in the Dáil as well as in Europe. While he has his sights set on Brussels rather than Dublin, Ciaran is aligned with Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice.

“I am working closely with Michael, and Independent Ireland will be running more candidates in the next general election,” he said. “They are the ‘no promises’ party. It is all about meeting people and listening to their issues and that is what I am doing here in Donegal.”