Interview: Martin Browne TD, Sinn Féin Candidate for Tipp South

For the general election, I have decided to conduct a candidate interview series with the candidates seeking to represent Tipperary in the 34th Dáil. I initially hoped to arrange to do proper interviews with as many candidates as possible, but in the interest of giving the candidates equal time and opportunity to respond, I’ve emailed them each ten questions. Nine of the ten questions are the same for all candidates, with one question (#9) tailored to the candidate. All candidates of the same party were given the same tailored question. I will be publishing responses in the order I receive them.

Next up: Martin Browne TD, Sinn Féin candidate for Tipp South.

(Disclosure: Martin Browne and I are both members of Tipperary Welcomes, a network of community groups and civil organisations working to promote integration and fight for the needs of everyone who calls Tipperary home.)

1. For the benefit of voters who may be unfamiliar with you and your background, please introduce yourself.

I’m originally from Knockavilla and have been living in Cashel for 36 years. During all that time I’ve been involved in community groups and initiatives. I have a degree in Community Development.

In 2012 I was co-opted to Cashel Town Council and elected to Tipperary County Council in 2014.

In 2020 I had the honour of being chosen by the public to become a Sinn Féin TD. Since veing elected, I have been the Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Petitions which gives members of the public the opportunity to bring matters of concern to the heart of the Oireachtas.

I also spent a number of years on the Committee of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

I advocate for young families, farming communities and pensioners.

My priorities are housing availability, rural transport, and in defence of the family farm.

I have stood up for children with autism and disabilities. I have campaigned for additional ASD units in schools, school places for children with additional needs, and for improved access to therapies, which sadly are lacking in Co Tipperary.

2. Why are you running?

As a public representative with deep roots in my community, I believe that it is my duty to continue my work in representing the people and the communities that gave me a mandate to represent them in 2020.

Additionally, my position as a Sinn Féin representative places me in the unique position of being able to deliver change in the way services are provided to the people of Tipperary and nationally.

For too long, this country has been governed by two parties who have led us to a situation in which young people are practically locked out of the housing market and are faced with the prospect of emigration or adjusting their employment prospects because they cannot afford to get accommodation in the location a job has been offered – as an example.

I am also running to give this country the best chance of preparing for the future, rather than presenting the public with one-off measures that expire quickly and have no long-term benefits for people.

Our infrastructural deficits are many, even though we have record tax receipts.  The people’s money must work for the people now and into the future. Sinn Féin would focus on investments that will sustain us as a country – not waste the taxpayers’ hard-earned money as we have seen the outgoing government do on so many fronts.

3. What do you see as the most pressing issues facing South Tipp right now?

Housing, the cost of living, health, and the provision of services for children and adults with additional and complex needs.

Housing is one of the most pressing issue that we are facing.  Rents and house prices are at record levels, many young people are virtually locked out of the prospect of owning a house, while homeless figures under the current government have exploded.  In the meantime, no affordable houses were delivered to Tipperary in the lifetime of the outgoing government.

It is clear FF & FG do not have the answer.  Sinn Féin on the other hand, have produced a comprehensive housing plan, and we will deliver for the individuals and families who have been failed by these two parties.

In terms of health, we need to see services returned to the communities from which they have been removed by FF/FG over the years.  St Michael’s in Clonmel and St Brigid’s in Carrick-on-Suir are prime examples of how such services have been removed from communities.  Regarding St Brigid’s, I and my colleague Cllr David Dunne have campaigned vigorously for this decision to be reversed.  I used my role as Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Petitions to enable campaigners from Carrick-on-Suir to speak on this at Oireachtas level.  We have proven the decision to be completely at odds with the policy of care within the community.

The campaign continues, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has given her support to the reinstatement of St Brigid’s, and that is why the next government needs to be led by Sinn Féin.

St Michael’s in Clonmel, and the overall issue of mental health services in Tipperary has been another issue I have been active on.  These beds should never have been taken away, and the Jigsaw service while welcome, took too long to set up, and in my view services such as this need expanding.  We also need accessible services that are tailored to assist people in crisis situations.  Sinn Féin is committed to expanding community access.

In Cashel, money that should be going into the provision of services is going into the hands of consultants instead.  For years, Cashel has been promised a Community Nursing Unit.  And what have we got?  The answer is nothing apart from a €200,000 bill, without a site chosen nor a brick laid.  It is another example of FF/FG playing fast and loose with people’s finances.

Children’s Disability Network Teams are falling far short of what is needed.  Vacancy rates in the Clonmel and Cashel teams are above 50% in each case, preventing children from being able to access the therapies they need in the timeframes required. A Sinn Féin government would develop a comprehensive workforce plan to fully staff CDNTs, streamline the recruitment process, double the number of undergraduate training places, and provide a job guarantee to health and social care graduates.

Mental health services in Tipperary have also been decimated by years of FG/FF.  It is another example that the notion of community care is actually resulting in care being taken out of our communities.  Sinn Féin would bring accessible mental health care back into communities in Co Tipperary.  We’ll ensure parity of esteem between physical and mental health.

Water services are another issue that is having a profound effect locally.  I believe that we should have a referendum on the ownership of water services, and that water services should be put but under the remit of the local authority, thereby bringing back accountability (which is lacking under Uisce Éireann) and involving the input of elected members.

The N24 project also needs funding certainty.  There have been too many delays, which is resulting in the inability to select specific measures that could reduce traffic flow through towns like Tipperary town, while also assisting villages like Monard and Bansha.  The same case can be made for the Cahir-Waterford route, which is in limbo for the very same reason.

And of course, the cost of living is something that needs more than one-off support measures. 

Sinn Féin would deliver on affordable childcare, abolish the USC on the first €45,000 of income for every worker, reintroducing the 9% VAT for those businesses in the hospitality sector (excluding hotels) that need it in 2025, reduce fuel costs, end means testing for the carers allowance, and bringing a fairer retrofit programme into the communities that need it the most in order to reduce emissions while bringing meaningful assistance to people in fuel poverty.

4. What’s an issue in South Tipp you think has been overlooked?

I think more could be done to give our young people a voice. Recently the Youth Council of Ireland published their manifesto outlining the ways in which the involvement of young people in the political sphere could be enhanced. 

The issues they refer to must be given more than just lip service. They need to see action.

Earlier this year I brought members of Tipperary Comhairle na nÓg to Leinster House and we sat down and talked for a while. The passion they have for Irish society could not be mistaken.

Their ideas and their concerns are what need to be voiced – whether that is in the area of climate change and climate justice, equality, being able to afford to rent or to buy a house, education and job prospects.

They are more than the future – they are the present. Our future and our planet are determined by our actions today. Today’s young people must be given the voice and the input they are demanding.

5. Tell me about a political hero of yours.

My brother Mikey. The commitment he showed to the people of Cashel and the wider area has always been an inspiration to me. The needs of people first was always his primary concern and he treated all sectors of society equally.

The hunger strikers were also an important influence on me. The strength of their commitment towards Irish freedom, equality, and civil rights for generations to come was so selfless and so consequential that we all owe them a debt that can only be repaid through the continued pursuit of justice, equality and a united Ireland.

6. Much has been made about how we should spend the €13 billion windfall from the Apple tax judgement. But the current government has been running surpluses for years, so we already have a lot of money we’re not spending.

How do you think we should be spending our existing surplus?

In every community that has a housing need, that has had health services, mental health services taken, palliative care and convalescent beds taken from them, or where infrastructural deficits have been left in the wake of successive government that that put those with means ahead of those without.

In addition to making that money work in the areas of health and infrastructure, Sinn Fein has committed to directing €1 billion of that funding back into communities through our Community Fund. This fund would be directed at communities that have been left behind and that are struggling.

7. Every single municipality in Tipp was in the bottom quarter of municipalities in the country for new house builds from 2012 to 2023, with Clonmel in dead last. The number of people on the social housing list has grown to over 3500.

Why do you think Tipp suffers from such chronic undersupply?

Current and previous government representatives are one factor here. Their parties have been devoid of a properly functioning housing plan. When that is coupled with poor representation by them over the years, we begin to see why Tipperary has fared so poorly.

The very fact that not a single affordable house has been delivered in Tipperary since 2020 exemplifies this. 

Another factor is linked to the lack of a coherent plan from FG/FF. That has to do with planning. The four-stage approval process imposed on Local Authorities and Approved Housing Bodies by the Department of Housing, as well as the complex spending code can add up to two years to the delivery of social housing even after planning has been granted ahead of construction.

8. If the next government calls a vote to abolish the triple lock on deploying Irish troops abroad, how will you vote?

Sinn Féin are committed to maintaining the triple-lock neutrality protection. It is unfortunate that the government voted against a Sinn Féin motion in the Dáil mandating them to put their proposals to remove the triple lock before the people through referendum.

9. 9. Sinn Féin is often accused of trying to be all things to all people. Many supporters have been alienated by the party’s handling of the Family & Care referendums this year and inconsistent stances on immigration taken by national leadership. Voters need to know who they’re voting for when they step in the booth.

What does Sinn Féin stand for?

Sinn Fein stands for equality and fairness. It stands for helping marginalised communities. And that is why I got involved in Sinn Fein and politics. I was always raised to treat everybody equally, no matter what their background.

10. Tell me about one thing you’ve done to support a community in South Tipp.

I have been deeply committed to supporting communities throughout my 36 years of activism. That started with the development of the Spafield Residents Association – a proactive measure that proved hugely beneficial. The value of positive community activism has stayed with me ever since and has informed my work throughout the years.

More recently, this has been evident in my pursuit of justice for communities that have been stripped of services. I have fought for the people of Clonmel regarding the removal of mental health beds, and for Carrick-on-Suir when they had St Brigid’s taken away from them. I brought that campaign to Leinster House and to the attention of the Ministers involved. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has visited St Brigid’s and has met with the HSE on the matter. She has given her full backing to the campaign to restore services. And that is why the only way to get this change in attitude towards St Brigid’s is for a Sinn Féin government to be elected.

I have worked tirelessly for services for children with special and additional needs. I campaigned on a political level for an ASD unit for Carrick-on-Suir – raising it numerous times in the Dail at Committee and in private. Thankfully that had a positive result.

I have brought attention to the lack of commitment on the part of the Department of Education to Scoil Aonghusa in Cashel, and the challenges also being experienced by Scoil Chormaic.

I have raised the profile of the Minor Injuries Unit in Cashel as a local alternative to presenting and A&E. The unit has since seen an increase in footfall and is a great service to have in Cashel.

Every day I work with people who are struggling to access services, housing and those things that they should be entitled to, but instead find themselves having to fight for because of the FF/FG way of doing things.

For all those people, I say that the only way to get the change we need is to give Sinn Féin a chance. We have fully costed and researched policies that are designed to bring services back into communities; that will address the accommodation crisis; that will benefit hard-pressed families, workers and employers; and which have fairness, equality, growth, and the provision of services and infrastructure front and centre.

And that is why I am asking people to lend us their vote – to give Sinn Féin the chance to prove that we can bring about a change for the better. If we are given that chance, we will work tirelessly to prove our commitment to each and every community across Tipperary, and to then be judged on our record.

The only way to get a change of government is to vote for Sinn Féin. I ask people to lend me their number 1 vote, so we can get to work and deliver for you.