AT 27 YEARS Of age Fiachra O’Luain is the youngest of the Northwest candidates running in this year’s European election. O’Luain officially became candidate seven in the North West European constituency in Sligo Court House at 12pm on Saturday 9 May.“I have not spent a lot of money and I don’t plan to spend money which I don’t have” Mr. O’Luain says.
O’Luain is currently claiming job seekers allowance and believes that his campaign does not need to cost a lot of money. “I have had one fundraiser in Carndonagh, Co. Donegal where I raised €250. I will not let the fact that I’m not a multimillionaire hold me back.”
O’Luain says that he is reluctant to ask people for money and has suggested that his supporters engage with his campaign by downloading his campaign posters and distributing them as they see fit.
What Makes O’Luain feel he has what it takes to represent the Northwest at such a young age?
Speaking today he expressed a concern over the growing sense of disillusionment that young people in Ireland are feeling in relation to politics: “this is terrible for a generation that grew up with all the hopes and aspirations of the peace process.”
O’Luain says that politics has become somewhat of a “dirty word” to Ireland’s youth. “I came to a turning point in my life where I could accept this disillusionment or exercise my democratic right to put myself forward as a candidate.”
“Young people are faced with a difficult question,” says O’Luain, “should we stay and pick up the pieces or should we emigrate?”
“Young people must fight their corner because if they don’t no one else will,” O’Luain says.
With two arrests for protesting at Sellafield and Shannon airport under his belt, O’Luain is no stranger to standing up for something he believes in through organised protest. He travelled to the protest held in Rossport, Co. Mayo as an independent observer on Saturday. Speaking about the arrests made at the Rossport protest O’Luain says that he was “shocked and appalled by the circumstances that my fellow constituents are dealing with”.
“Until I saw it with my own eyes I could not have believed how a rural community like any other could be violated and divided in such a way,” O’Luain says.
O’Luain believes that the no vote to Lisbon should be respected. He was working in Germany when the no vote was reached in Ireland and says that he does not believe that Ireland has annoyed the rest of Europe.
Speaking of the reaction by Europe to Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty O’Luain says “the best way to make friends in Europe is to be seen to stand up for yourself.”
With little money to fund his campaign O’Luain is using the internet to reach out to a constituency which covers 8 counties. “YouTube has democratized the media in a way,” says O’Luain (http://www.youtube.com/fiachraforeurope). He says that although local media is fair, the national media at large have failed to recognize his candidacy.
Having travelled extensively and having spent a few years living in Mexico this is Mr.O’Luain’s first time to run for election.
