Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, with Labour’s Tralee Electoral Area candidates, Graham Spring, Gillian Wharton Slattery and Terry O’Brien. Photo by Dermot Crean
TANAISTE Eamon Gilmore enjoyed a brief visit to town on Friday morning to meet with the local Labour candidates.
The Labour leader is no stranger to the town having spent years here in the late 1970s/early 80s as secretary of the ITGWU (now SIPTU).
He went for a coffee in The Grand Hotel with Graham Spring, Terry O’Brien and Gillian Wharton Slattery, then a brief walkabout with the candidates, before meeting with members of the Tralee Chamber Alliance.
“The meeting focussed on job creation and what can be done for the town,” said CEO of Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kieran Ruttledge.
“He emphasised that the changes to the regional aid grants criteria will ensure Kerry is on a level playing field with other areas. We spoke about the need for the Kerry Technology Park ownership issue to be dealt with and the fact that Dublin is booming while the rest of the country is being left behind,” said Mr Ruttledge.
“We’ve met with a number of politicians over the past few weeks but, of course, none of them can offer a quick-fix solution to the economic challenges facing Tralee and Kerry,” he said.
Mr Gilmore then left to attend the IMPACT conference in Killarney.
