Making an ass out of politics

Colourful Michael Dempsey of Moylough says the bare facts are at odds with Fine Gael and Labour’s claims that the economy is recovering.

Mr Dempsey, who lost his job in the haulage industry in 2011, and who owes the banks a lot of money, says he is tired of Government spin.

“There’s a sign at the end of the road. ‘Fine Gael – keep the recovery going’. What recovery? There’s no recovery around here,” he says.

“I’m sick of politicians saying ‘I hear this on the doorsteps and I hear that on the doorsteps’. They didn’t knock on my door. They put leaflets through the letterbox ‘sorry I missed you’ but they didn’t knock,” he says.

Mr Dempsey says he would ask each candidate two questions, about the economy and abortion.

“I think the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny insulted me and insulted the people of Ireland when he said we don’t understand economic jargon or the fiscal space. I have an issue with that. I’d also ask them about the eighth amendment. I’m not religious but I think abortion is murder,” says Mr Dempsey.

Mr Dempsey’s sign, which includes a photograph of a bottom, was made in Tuam to highlight the Government’s record.

He lists a whole host of issues, including unemployment, banks not lending, homelessness, and emigration as evidence that there is no recovery. Mr Dempsey, who made headlines during the recession when he put his home on the market for €1, fears there will be a flood of repossessions after the election.

Mr Dempsey says he is from Fianna Fáil stock but he ‘loaned’ his vote to Labour five years ago. He says people in Moylough are “vexed” that local Galway County Councillor Michael Connolly lost out at the party’s selection convention.

“I won’t be voting Fine Gael, Labour or Fianna Fáil this time. I might even spoil my vote – drive the tallymen daft,” he said.