"Politics initially was an adventure for me.

In 1999 was approached by Milford Fine Gael, and I decided to give it a go. That organisation got me elected to Donegal County Council that year, and I’ll always be grateful to them for that.

“This year is the tenth anniversary of my entry into politics, and I suppose the early part of that decade was a learning curve. People are often cynical about politics, but as time passes I become increasingly aware of the importance of politics to people’s lives, and increasingly aware of what can be achieved through the political process.

“The life that I lived in Donegal for 30 years – as a child, a teenager, a student, a teacher, and a community youth worker – go some way towards explaining why I am in the job that I hold today. I believe that every individual should be given a fair chance in life.  

“By ‘a fair chance in life’ (we say ‘a fair crack of the whip’ in Donegal) I refer to the right everybody should have to enjoy a secure family life, in a strong community, with educational and career opportunities for those who work hard for those opportunities.  

“That, for me, is ultimately what the political process is about. Hence my focus in Dáil Eireann on the right of individuals to earn decent wages for decent work; the importance of a proper health service; and on the need to remove from Irish life the bureaucracy that prevents ordinary people from achieving what they wish to achieve.  

“I believe that politicians (and the State) should simply be enablers – our role is to allow fishermen to fish, farmers to farm, teachers to teach, and so forth.