Foley seeks re-election

Councillor John Foley has announced this week that he will contest this May's local elections.

Cllr Foley has served the people of Edenderry and north Offaly over the last 20 years and said this week that at all times he worked "to try and achieve the very best for the people of the area".

“I have been honoured and humbled to have been elected as a member of Edenderry Town Council and also as a member of Offaly County Council. I have at all times put the interests and well being of the people of the area first and if re-elected after the election on May 24, I will continue to do so.

“Over the past 20 years a lot of positive things have happened in the north Offaly area. We have secured the much needed upgrade of the Edenderry to Enfield road, we have delivered a badly needed ambulance service with a new state of the art ambulance base for the north Offaly area, we have seen new schools built in the area, a new fire station built in Edenderry and the upgrade of the water mains in a number of areas, to name but a few.

“Sadly thought we have lost out on major job creation in the area, an issue I would like to see addressed. I feel more has to be done to secure jobs for the young people in the north Offaly area. It saddens me to see so many of our young people having to move from the area to get employment. We in north Offaly have wonderful, well-educated, skillful young people and we must do more to create jobs for them and for our future generations.

"We are only 45 minutes from Dublin. The road infrastructure that, we were told, was hampering job creation, is no longer an issue. We have excellent schools and facilities in the area and we must work together to ensure there are more jobs created locally. More needs to be done to encourage companies in Dublin to relocate to Edenderry and north Offaly and also to promote the  area as a tourist attraction," he said.