GENERAL ELECTION: ‘If you are not at the table, you are on the menu’ - Rosie Palmer

Green party candidate Rosie Palmer is very honest in her assessment that being a Green in rural Ireland is a much harder sell than in the capital.

The Ballinakill native, who now lives in Abbeyleix, feels there is a disconnect between her party in Dublin and the complex issues facing rural communities. She is however proud of the party's record in government and says they want a seat at the table to hold Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to account. 

"When the history books are written I will be proud that we did what we needed to do because the failings of the country currently are held by ministries in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The Green party wants to be there to hold Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to account, we want a seat at the table. It's not power at all costs but it is certainly important to be a voice. One of my favourite sayings is 'if you are not at the table, you are on the menu'. That's the reality of it. It's not easy to govern and it's very easy to hurl from the ditch and say we would have done it differently and done it better."

Ms Palmer, the youngest of six in her family, said she didn't grow up in a political household. During her first year of college she found herself pregnant at 18.

"I was a single parent when I had my son and that was where my realisation of the workings of politics and policy and the social welfare system began," said Ms Palmer.

 She went on to study Governance, Social Policy and Human Rights and now works as Parliamentary Assistant to Laois-Offaly Minister Pippa Hackett.

Speaking about taking the job with Minister Hackett Ms Palmer says: "Pippa really hammered home the message of what it meant to be a Green in rural Ireland because to be very frank I wasn't sure I resonated as much with the Greens in Dublin because I felt in rural Ireland there is a lot more going on with the complexities of being a Green and Pippa got that.

 
"I was really disappointed for Pippa and for the party that she wasn't successful in the leadership. I think she would have done a brilliant job in bridging that disconnect. I'm absolutely supportive of Roderic especially in a human rights and social inclusion background. I think he is brilliant but I think in rural Ireland to be a Green is a much harder sell."

As a single parent to a teenage son and mortgage to pay Ms Palmer is fully aware of one of the biggest challenges at the doors, the cost of living crisis.

 "The cost of living is crippling people and it is so difficult. My heart really goes out to people that are struggling now. I'd like to be able to be in a position to change that for them. I think it is going to take a bit of outside the box thinking and new and fresh ideas," she said. 

"I have three priorities - homes, healthy futures, and hearty communities. We need to build more houses, more social and affordable housing, we need to build the right houses in the right place and stop donutting our town centres and leaving nothing in the middle and everything on the outside." 

In terms of healthy futures she prioritizes clean air, clean water, nature protection, access to education and quality healthcare for everybody. She also said communities are crying out for access to funding and said there is not enough support from central government. 

On the doors it was local issues like speeding on the roads and bus shelters that were coming up rather than the big question of climate change. Ms Palmer said it is difficult to get someone who can't get their child with autism into a school to care about things like emissions which she completely understands.  

"Yes we all want clean air, yes we all want to protect nature and our bogs but not at the cost of taking your only source of heating in the case of turf. We need to do it in a way that meets people at their level of need. That's why it's a just transition, if it's not just then we can't transition. There has to be a balance and it has to be accessible for people."

Away from politics Ms Palmer's passion lies very much on the rugby pitch. Having got involved in Portlaoise Rugby Club in 2014 she has served as its first ever female secretary. As well as playing rugby she has been involved in coaching and helped set up the first female rugby team in Heywood Community School last year. 

"Rugby changed my life, it changed my perspective on life. It gave me a purpose other than being a parent which is a wonderful purpose but it was something for me. It was brilliant physically and socially you will never meet a better bunch of people than ruggers.

"I always joke that rugby and politics are very similar. You have your argie bargie, you scrum it up and at the end you dust yourself down and go into the clubhouse and have a pint. That's what politics should be - you should be able to have a disagreement but also get along."

One way in which Ms Palmer differs from other candidates is that she does not have posters up around the county. Instead she has decided to bring one poster around with her as she visits and engages with communities across Laois. CONTINUE READING BELOW PHOTO

 "I'm not adding to the visual clutter, the environmental cost and basically I think there is a better way we can do it and I feel like using one poster makes a stand. I'm disappointed that some of my fellow candidates put up posters in towns where the tidy towns or community groups asked not to be put up in certain zones. I get that it's part of politics but it shouldn't be votes at any cost. If a community asks you to respect their wishes then you should respect their wishes. I want people to vote for me because they know what I'm about, not because they saw me on a plastic poster on the side of the road and never saw me again."