*Amanda Major (IND). Photograph: Martin Connolly
MISMANAGEMENT of taxpayers money has prompted Amanda Major (IND) to vie to become one of Clare’s four TDs.
Unsuccessful in running for the local elections in 2019 and 2024, Amanda was motivated to run by a continued mismanagement of the public purse strings. “I’m just tired of seeing the mismanagement of taxpayers’ money, and nobody’s held accountable for it”.
Of particular frustration to Amanda was the €336,000 spent on a bike shed to store 36 bicycles at Leinster House. “This was the one for me that I just said no, this is more than what I can take, it’s a bike shed, the cover and everything to cost that amount, that is a big disgrace and the people of Ireland to just keep quiet about that, there should be accountability, somebody should be held responsible for that”. She said someone needs to be held accountable for the overspend.
She questioned the location of the €2.2bn National Children’s Hospital in Dublin, “millions have been put into that hospital and it is still not completed”.
Clare’s health system needs to be upgraded, she maintained. “We need something to be done about that, we need Ennis Hospital to be upgraded to a model three hospital, we need another ED in the Mid-West”.
To highlight the pressure on services, Amanda referenced the case of her mother who she claimed was waiting six years for a dentist’s appointment in Ennis.
“I decided to run because I want to make change, I cannot just keep quiet and just complain,” she told The Clare Echo. “It’s everything, the bike shed, the housing, the hospital, you know everything”.
An additional emergency department for the Mid-West is also among her list of priorities, an area where other politicians have tried to deliver and failed. “I’ve actually observed during the past is they’ve used that as a campaign to get to get the votes, and then when they get there, they kept quiet and then nobody’s saying anything. The topic again will come up during the time of election, you can remember r the local election, that was a big issue and now it’s coming up again. So the question I’m asking is if you’ve been there for the past four years what have you done, because have you actually kept your promise to the people on what you said you were going to achieve”.
396 first preference votes were amassed by Amanda in June of this year compared with the 200 of 2019. She said she will continuing working to try increase her vote further to be in contention for the General Election. “It’s the people’s choice, I’m not going to impose myself, and I’m not going to get sad about it if they don’t pick me, the people has the right to choose who they want to choose, you know, without anybody being biased or angry about it. You know what I mean so what I would not do is I would not forgive myself if I sit down and don’t do anything. It’s either I’m voting or I’m putting myself forward”.
“I’ll put my heart and soul to me to make sure that I deliver for the people of Clare but if they choose somebody else, of course, I’ll give my support as well. I’ll walk towards that and keep doing what I do, which is, you know, on the ground, serving and working for people of Clare,” she added.
Groups Amanda is involved with include the Association of Nigeria in Co Clare, the women’s network, Clare PPN and the Clare Volunteer Centre. An Irish citizen since 2015, she has previously lived in Direct Provision and has resided in Shannon and Scariff before her current base in Ennis.
In between her local election bids, Amanda was a member of both the Greens and Fianna Fáil. The Greens need to realise “it’s not all about climate” because of the pressures people are facing in paying their bills and keeping a roof over their head. She said she agreed with the majority of Fianna Fáil’s housing policy and didn’t rule out a return to the party in the future.
“My vision for Co Clare’s future is for our kids to be able to work here and live here,” she outlined.
She felt the health system and housing crisis in Ireland needed to be fixed before the country could keep taking in refugees. “My stand will be we just hold on for a while, and let’s get this sorted out. Let’s get the health care sorted out, let’s get the housing sorted out. Let’s get things on the ground because, like, we allow everybody to come in without actually creating more facilities. The housing situation was already stretched, it’s not immigration which caused, it’s not the people who caused it, it was already stretched before the Ukraine war”.
“just think this government, whoever this government is going to be, they’re going to, like, look at that aspect and really get the system in order. Then we can start, you know, to be giving more power to get to for people to come in. But for now, I just think since I should be you know like pause the system”.
Amanda said she believed Ireland needed to pause the acceptance of asylum seekers into the country.
Amanda Major
Occupation – Energy engineering consultant
DOB – 28/03/78
Party – Independent
Priority – Accountability and transparency
