A WELL MINDED constituency is a happy one, and when it comes to Kerry North there are many content constituents. This is all thanks to the diligence of the local Labour deputy, Dick Spring.
In the past the leader of the Labour Party has been coy about how much money he has been responsible for bringing into the area, particularly to Tralee.
But much of that shyness has been lost as the campaign gets under way. In local election addresses Mr Spring, who brings the weight of being Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to delivering goodies to his constituency, says he is running out of space for mentioning all the relevant projects. He confirmed to The Irish Times that well over £10 million has been allocated to tourism projects alone, in grants from EU and State funding over the past five years.
Those projects include the £4.3 million Aquadome; the reconstruction of an emigrant ship, which will receive £750 000 in ERDF funding; and a canal linking Tralee to Blennerville. which is being reopened with a grant of £1 million from the Office of Public Works and the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The canal will link into a privately funded £10 million development of Tralee Basin.
In Fenit a £2.5 million marina and breakwater is under construction. These efforts have brought a fivefold increase in tourism figures to 500,000 in 1996.
Millions have also been spent on infrastructure including a £14 million sewage scheme for the town of Tralee and a £26 million dual carriageway between the town and Castleisland. The foreign ministers' summit during the Irish EU presidency last year is also still fresh in local memory.
The days when the Tanaiste held on to his seat by four votes are in the distant past. There appears to be no threat to his seat, or those of Jimmy Deenihan (FG) and Den is Foley (FF).
However, while Mr Spring has delivered hugely on the tourism front, there has been a continued failure to bring industry into the area, which also reflects poorly on the Fine Gael Minister of State for Agriculture, Jimmy Deenihan.
It is over 10 years since there was an announcement of a new industry of any consequence. Some of the bigger industries, such as Klopman, now employ a much smaller workforce, about 150 compared to over 1,000 people in the late 1970s. A German firm, Kleinhaus, which will employ 80 people, is due to open shortly.
Grumblings can also be heard from areas outside Tralee where the locals complain they have been ignored in favour of the town.
Mr Deenihan, a former Kerry footballer, has a solid Fine Gael seat with a strong farming vote in Listowel. With no Fianna Fail candidate running, he has the area to himself. Money has been also pumped into infrastructure and tourism projects here, and farmers have also been well looked after. However, it has been a long time since any new industry of consequence opened in the town.
The closure of Neodata marked the first loss of a factory in the town since 1928. Deenihan's vote may suffer from the Ardfert based Sinn Fein candidate Martin Ferris.
Den is Foley, a guest house owner in Tralee, should take the third seat for Fianna Fail. Aged 64 it is believed this may be his last general election. His running mate, Tom McEllistrim jnr, follows in the footsteps of his grandfather and his father, Tom. A 27 year old school teacher, he may be a threat to the sitting Fianna Fail TD.
The Sinn Fein candidate, Martin Ferris, who spent 10 years in Portlaoise Prison for his role in the ill fated Marila Ann arms smuggling operation, is tapping into fears about the growing drugs problem on large housing estates in Tralee and Listowel.