Day 17 - Fair Deal for Communities

Posted on May 15, 2007 at 01:45 PM

Pat and Phil
At October's ploughing championships in Tullow about to be interviewed by RTE's Sharon Ní Bheoláin

Another day closer to the election and another positive poll for us. There have been five polls since the election was announced; we were up in four with no change on one so there is a definite and positive rising trend for us. The poll also confirms what we are hearing from people on the ground that there is an urge for change out there.

Speaking on the canvas trail in Tipperary South with Phil Prendergast, Pat said: "Now is the time for a new vision, and new values.

"A vision of our country, as one where hard working families enjoy a good quality of life and can build a better future for their children.

"A vision of a country that does not turn a blind eye, but sees and recognizes the needs of the elderly and those who care.

"A vision of a country where there are people values, as well as property values. Where service to others is elevated and honoured, where there is a sense of purpose and optimism and where there is more to life than the devil take the hindmost.

"A vision of a country, where the quality of our future is not strained but shared."

This belief is at the core of the Fair Deal proposals we launched today in Dublin with Roisin Shortall and Derek McDowell.

Our Fair Deal for Communities is a number of new targeted initiatives in the areas of pre-school education, addressing literacy and numeracy levels and early school leaving that will help the education of young people from some of the less well-off parts of the country.

Roisin Shortall said: "As a society, we must ensure that, working together, we spread the opportunities of modern Ireland to all our people, in all our communities.

Derek McDowell said: "We want to ensure that as many people as possible remain in full-time education for as long as possible and not simply believe that because they do not come from a well-off or privileged background, that they will not be able to achieve their full educational potential."

You can read Pat's release here, Roisin's here and Derek's here, the document can be found here.

Tagged with Education • Election2007 • CommitmentforChange • ontheroad • policy