STORM TRACKER: Follow 'Storm Amy' as it bears down on Ireland amid brutal forecast
Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Liam Gilleran, Johnny Walsh, Fidelma Bennett, Labour leader Ivana Bacik, Johnny Penrose and Derek Ryan during a whistle-stop visit of the Longford-Westmeath constituency
Labour leader Ivana Bacik says the party is fully focused on strengthening its foothold at national and local political level after visiting the constituency earlier this week.
Ms Bacik undertook a whistle-stop tour of Longford and Westmeath on Monday as the Dublin Bay South TD steps up her party's preparations ahead of the next general election.
The Labour leader, who took over from predecessor Alan Kelly just over two months ago, spent much of the day engaging with Westmeath county councillors Denis Leonard and Johnny Penrose as well as local representatives across both counties.
Longford student bakes winning recipe for national enterprise success
A county Longford student has picked up an award at national level in this year’s Student Enterprise Programme awards.
One of those Ms Bacik alluded to was Longford based representative Carla Naltchayan.
And when the democratic bell sounds on any would be local and national elections in the future, Ms Bacik said the areas of housing and childcare would undoubtedly be key pre-election manifesto issues for the party.
“We did do well in the local elections in 2019 and we do believe there is a strong Labour base there,” she said, when speaking to the Leader.
“We are looking at things actively (in Longford Westmeath) and bringing about a centre-left delivery of services led by the State in the areas of housing and childcare.”
Former Labour stalwart Willie Penrose was the party's sole flag bearer for the best part of two decades until his retirement from public life before the 2020 general election.
Ms Bacik said that while filling those political shoes remains a tough task, it's one she and the broader Labour party movement had not given up hope on achieving.
“Alan Mangan (2020 general election candidate) did well and we think there is a strong vote there,” she said.
Buoyant words they are, they are ones the Labour leader and those closest to her hope to solidify over the weeks and months ahead.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
