Knockbride's local politician
March 01, 2010The former RTE economics editor's resignation was a sad day for Fine Gael and a sad day for George Lee. But while admitting that this is a disappointment it will not impact on Enda Kenny becoming the next Taoiseach. Bailieborough electoral area councillor John O'Hare is convinced the party will bounce back as the last opinion poll indicates.
"It's disappointing and it's a setback for everyone in Fine Gael, but you'll always have setbacks in politics and you just have to get on with it," says John, who was elected to Cavan County Council at his first attempt in last June's local elections.
"We've had setbacks before and we've recovered from them. My own honest opinion on George Lee is that he wasn't cut out for politics. You have to have a passion for it or have a family background in it, and he clearly had neither.
"When he ran for election, he probably didn't realise the amount of work and the long hours that are involved. Even at local level, you're attending meetings nearly every night of the week. I ran for election the same time as George, but unlike him, I have no intention of walking away," he adds.
Like his former party colleague, John has no family background in politics, but he had been an active member of his local branch in Knockbride long before his election last year.
He explains: "Even though my parents weren't involved in politics, I always took a keen interest. I had held various positions within the Fine Gael party before I was chosen as a candidate for last year's local elections. I ran a successful campaign and thankfully it paid off in the end. I enjoyed the whole experience and I'm delighted to represent the people of the Bailieborough electoral area."
Since his election, Maudabawn native John has been lobbying for the elimination of red tape across all areas, particularly farming. He has also been lobbying for a new fire station, East West Link to pass through Shercock enterprise centre and full medical services for Shercock, where he has worked for the past 37 years with Carton Bros.
John is seeking to have the local roads network upgraded and has also called on National Irish Bank to reconsider its decision to close its sub-offices in Kingscourt, Shercock and Bailieborough. However, he admits that he is fighting a losing battle in this regard.
"The closure of the National Irish Bank sub-branches in Kingscourt, Shercock, Bailieborough and Virginia, which is outside my electoral, is a massive blow to the area. I met representatives from the bank and they are not for turning. These banking facilities were invaluable to the people in these towns and it's terrible to see them go."
While unemployment has reached record levels in many parts of the country since the onset of the recession, John is happy to report that his electoral area hasn't been too badly affected.
"This part of Cavan certainly hasn't been immune from the recession and a lot of people, particularly those in the construction trade, have lost their jobs over the last 18 months or so, but overall, there is a high level of employment. Carton Bros. employs over 600 people in Shercock and we are grateful to have employers like that in our area," he says.
One of the Carton Bros. longest-serving staff members, John is a production manager with the company which has been in business since 1775. Current managing director Vincent Carton is the eighth generation of his family to work in the business which has 650 staff and had a turnover of EUR169 million in 2009. While the company headquarters are located in Bracetown Business Park, Clonee, Co. Meath, its production facility in Shercock is the hub of the business. Next December will mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of the facility in the Co. Cavan town.
Responsible for introducing the broiler chicken to Ireland, Carton Bros. brand Manor Farm is one of the best known in the country. A whopping 680,000 birds are processed every week in Shercock. In fact, the new state-of-the-art facility, which was upgraded at a cost of EUR17 million in 2005, has the capacity to process one million chickens per week. It takes just over three hours for a chicken to be dispatched from the time of its entry.
Carton Bros. has 150 contracted farmers and paid EUR21 million last year, in wages and salaries. It also provides significant employment for local transport companies who distribute its products throughout Ireland. Due to a limited scope to expand further in the Irish market, Carton Bros. began exporting a number of years ago and has seen a dramatic increase in its overseas sales year-on-year.
Carton Bros. is firmly established as Ireland's leading chicken company, providing quality Irish chicken to millions of customers around the world. The company works with Annyalla chicks an it operates its own feed mill and plant In 2008 it won the overall Hygiene award for all food establishments in the country. All Manor Farm products can be traced back to their place of origin with the farmer's name printed on each pack.
Married to Kathleen and of farming stock, John has two daughters, Elaine and Olivia, and one granddaughter, Alison. He takes a keen interest in the GAA and as well as supporting his local clubs, he follows both the Cavan footballers and the Galway hurlers.
"The GAA is particularly strong in this part of Cavan. Laragh, Shercock, Drumgoon, Baileboro Shamrocks, Killinkere and Knockbride are located within a short distance of one another and there's a good, healthy rivalry between them," he says.
"I support Cavan and the Galway hurling team. My interest in Galway hurling stems back to the many summers' I spent as a child in mother's home parish of Peterswell, which is situated between Loughrea and Gort. The local club down there is St. Thomas', which represents the parishes of Peterswell, Kilchreest and Castledaly."
At the time of going to press, Drumgoon clubman Aogan Farrell was running for the presidency of the Ulster Council. Wishing him the best, John said: "As a fellow Maudabawn man, I would like to wish him every success in his bid to become the next president of the Ulster Council. It would be a tremendous honour for his family, club and county."
Cavan's poor run in January's McKenna Cup was quickly forgotten about when they hammered Roscommon in their National League opener at Hyde Park. That performance has raised hopes for a successful year, and John is keeping his fingers crossed.
"It would be great to see Cavan challenging for an Ulster title this year. There has been a huge amount of work put in at underage level over the past 10 years or so, and it would be nice to see it paying off. Cavan supporters haven't had much to shout about since 1997, but maybe that will all change this year. Here's hoping away," he concludes on a positive note. Tweet
