TD Watch: Noel Grealish

While it was the 'Molloy factor' that got Noel Grealish into national politics, he's hoping that the 'Grealish factor' will keep him there. As a Government backbencher, much of his time is spent working on local issues. By Mary Regan

When Noel Grealish heard on RTÉ's Morning Ireland that Bobby Molloy was retiring from politics and would not be contesting the upcoming General Election, the then Galway County Councillor thought this could change the course of his own political future. "I spent the next few hours wondering, where does all this leave me, until I got a phone call from Molloy at about 11 o'clock telling me I would have to run in the election". It was just three weeks from polling day.

Grealish was one of three PD candidates nominated to run in Galway West, so there was a high risk that none of them would be elected. With just a brief period on the campaign trail and just three years behind him as a councillor, Grealish knew his chances were slim. "The media had written off any chances of us getting a seat here," he says, "but just one week before the election, one of my campaign workers pulled me aside and said 'if we go the full hog on this we can win the seat' and so we did."

In the election of May 2002, Grealish got the second-lowest first preference vote in the country, but the highest percentage of first preferences in any single ballot box. 80 per cent of voters in Carnmore national school polling station, in his home town, gave him their number one vote, and helped along by transfers from his two running mates, he was elected on the 15th count.

Following Liz O'Donnell's announcement that she did not want to return as Minister of State, it was thought that Grealish would take her place. "I was delighted to see that my name was being mentioned as minister of state, but I never got the phone call," he says with disappointment. He admits that he would have jumped at the chance, but says in retrospect "the most important thing for me was to find out how the Dáil worked, and it was probably a bit too soon to be catapulted into a junior minister position in my first year there."

Grealish says he has been campaigning for better health care for the people of Galway since being elected. But his access to his party leader and health minister, Mary Harney, does not appear to have reaped many benefits for health services in the city or county. Galway has no breast check services and there is often up to ten patients on hospital trolleys in the Accident and Emergency unit of its main hospital, UCHG. But he says Mary Harney is hearing his concerns: "I am working with the Tánaiste to provide cardiac surgery for UCHG and alleviate the A&E crisis there. I have also worked with her to get a nursing home on the grounds of Merlin Park Hospital."

It has been said that while the senior members of the PDs have stolen the limelight recently, the more junior members have become somewhat lost in the melee. This is not surprising in the case of Grealish, who has only spoken once in the Dáil so far this year. But, like most politicians, he has learnt that people are less interested in what goes on in the Dáil, and more interested in what politicians do in their constituency: "You can stand up in Dáil Éireann and speak morning, noon and night. But if a politician loses contact with their constituents, then they are in trouble."

"People are not interested in the big names, but in the people who work hard on the ground and are actively involved in local issues," says Grealish. While some of his PD colleagues are not expected to retain their seat after the next election, Grealish should hold onto his in Galway West. While many believe "the Molloy factor" got him into the Dáil, he's hoping "the Grealish factor" will keep him there for a long time to come.