The director of the Carers' Association says he will not be a single-issue candidate in the forthcoming election. Mr Eddie Collins-Hughes, who has decided to run as an independent in Carlow-Kilkenny after holding discussions with the Labour Party, has made health and social services the priority areas of his campaign.
He told The Irish Times, however, that he would be raising a range of issues of concern to the electorate. "In my work over the years I have dealt with housing, education, environmental issues, farm incomes and supports, and the need to tackle bureaucracies at all levels which deny people their basic rights."
"For example, the Department of Agriculture's approach to farmers who make simple clerical errors in completing documentation for farm supports and payments is unjust and draconian and needs to be reformed now."
Mr Collins-Hughes says he knows how difficult it will be to get elected in a constituency effectively reduced to four seats because of the automatic re-election of the Ceann Comhairle.
He insists he is not running simply to raise the issues that concern him. "I have been building up a team for the past six months and I have had a great response to the announcement that I will be running, with people offering to help in all kinds of ways. I intend to give it my all," he said. A former TD, he said, was among those who had offered him assistance.
A past general-secretary of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association, he claims he is well- positioned to win votes throughout the constituency. He lives in Paulstown, Co Kilkenny, near the Carlow border and has strong links with both counties.
His three principal campaign issues are: the need to treat family carers and people with disabilities with respect and dignity, including a move away from means-testing to "a rights-based approach"; reform of the health services; and constitutional changes "to guarantee dignity and respect for the citizen in dealing with the State".
He had decided not to run for the Labour Party because "I believe I would be able to achieve far more as a strong independent TD than if I were confined to working within a formal party structure."
