“In politics, you make your place or you take your place. You don’t expect special treatment because of your gender or ability. You fight your corner.”

By Dermot Crean

“POLITICS is in his/her blood” is a trite description some observers bandy about when talking about various political candidates. But in the case of Norma Foley it couldn’t be more apt and true.

The councillor from Staughton’s Row has been making political speeches from her pre-teen years, on the canvass for her late father Denis. It’s difficult to imagine her doing anything else after I spoke to her at her home.

“I grew up in a very political household. My father was born over Fianna Fail headquarters in Tralee, so he was hugely involved in the party from a very young age.”

Denis would go on to represent the people of North Kerry in the Dail over a 20 year period from the early 1980s so political life was the norm for her.

“As a young child I was always with him so I attended his clinics and community meetings. I later acted as his secretary for many years so from a young age I became very familiar with the issues on the ground,” she said.

“I learnt what it was to be dogged in your representation and to pursue something to the end to get the best possible result for something. Sometimes it didn’t work out, but at least you could say you did your absolute best.”

Norma particularly remembers going on the canvass back in the late 70s, early 80s.

“It was a family involvement. We were never in the background and always out with my father. General elections were fought over a three week campaign and the family were divided into teams spread throughout the constituency. I can remember being 12 or 13 and giving a speech at one of the after-Mass meetings where  candidates or their representatives would address the public. I suppose it was a novelty to have a young girl speaking on the back of a lorry. I would travel with my uncle Joseph and the big thing was to get there first, because first in was first up to speak. So we were always racing to get to the next place.”

Norma also saw that, from an early age, it’s a tough business.

“I learned that you should never expect a break. Even though I was the youngest – and usually the only female there – I was never allowed go first if I wasn’t there first. I took my place. It was a great lesson to learn in life. You make your place or you take your place and you don’t expect special treatment because of your gender or ability. You fight your corner.”

Her experience in those days influenced her decision to follow in her father’s footsteps.

“Because I worked so closely with him [her father] I very much became aware of the need for involvement, not to stand on the sidelines. I think if we all stood there nothing would be achieved. We’re all called to do different things in life and mine is to be in the middle being proactive. I like to be a solution-finder so the work of a local representative appeals to me.’

She ran first for Tralee Town Council in 1994 and has been re-elected every time since then, holding the position of mayor on two occasions (“it was a tremendous honour having growing up in town and it was a role I never took lightly”).

She is out looking for votes again to be re-elected to Kerry County Council in a climate that is less antagonistic to Fianna Fail than five years ago. Norma says she could understand people’s frustrations at the time.

“People were angry and rightly so, but on a personal basis no-one was discourteous to me. People would say ‘it’s nothing personal Norma, but…’ I can totally understand that. Fianna Fail got a lot of things wrong, but equally so, if we were balanced, you could say they got a lot of things right in their time. Fianna Fail has learnt from its mistakes,” she said.

“But I think in terms of local politics, people look at the individual and what they’re about and what they bring to the local community. The broad-mindedness of the electorate is fortunate in that respect.”

I asked her why the people of the Tralee Electoral Area should vote for her this time around…(see video)

She is proud that many of the tourism projects in the town over the years came to fruition while she was a member of the soon-to-be defunct Town Council.

“The Town Council took leadership in terms of employment and developing projects in the town. At a time when it wasn’t popular to take on this sort of role, the Town Council led the way in initiatives like the AquaDome and the most current one, the Wetlands. The spin-off for the town from these projects has been massive,” she said.

“We’re being failed dismally nationally by the IDA, so my agenda would be self-help and self-promotion. We’ve done it before when the chips were down and we can do it again,” she insisted, citing the recently acquired Denny site as a great opportunity going forward.

The girl who was educated in Presentation Primary and Secondary School in Tralee before studying in UCC, came back to teach in her alma mater in 1999.

“My life has come full circle because I’m back there [Presentation Secondary] now. It’s a great place to teach. I’m very happy there, there’s great staff and I love working with young people.”

Norma is married to Denis Maguire, a Fermanagh man who, being avid sports fan, loves Kerry. A Man United fan (“tough times, we’re down but not out”) Norma is a great lover of the arts with a great interest in genealogy.

She made a proposal to Kerry County Council that Tralee make a application for the National Diaspora Centre (“we are brilliantly suited here in Kerry and Tralee to be home to the centre). The Council is in the process of making that application.

On the gender imbalance issue, Norma would welcome more female involvement in politics, but not for the sake of making up the numbers.

“It’s regrettable because women bring a distinctive flavour to politics. Women are talented and capable of being strong representatives of the people and I would be hugely supportive of more women getting involved. Having said that I would hate to think any woman was on a ticket as a token candidate.”