'Meath has made lots of progress but I think that we can do more’

"Delivering facilities for local communities" is what has driven Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne over his 17 year career in politics.

The Minister of State for at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media served as a member of Dáil Éireann was first elected as a TD in 2007, but lost his seat in the 2011 election.

He spent five years in the Seanad, elected to the cultural and educational panel, and served as Seanad spokesman on public expenditure and financial sector reform and later as health spokesman. He returned to the Dáil in 2016.

He returned to the Dáil for a third time after retaining his seat in the 2020 election elected on the seventh count with 6,039 first preference votes.

"I was asked to run for election initially but what drives me in politics and what drove me even then is facilities for the local area particularly in Meath East with the growing population," said Byrne.

"I would have started off with the Laytown school crisis nearly 20 years ago and as Minister for sport I have tried to deliver on facilities in the area because I know they are badly needed all across the county," he added.

"Also being part of a government that has been working on school projects some of which are still being worked on but we have seen a lot of them get over the line has been fantastic.

"We just love working with the local community because they drive these things but they need a little help from government and local representatives that is something that drives me very strongly."

Byrne has been the bearer of good news in recent months with a plethora of sports funding announcements benefiting local clubs.

Just last month, more than €100,000 in funding was awarded to Meath Local Sports Partnership that will see new basketball courts installed in Dunshaughlin Community Park, Kilmainhamwood village and Blackwater Park, Navan.

New volleyball posts will also be installed on Bettystown Beach as part of the funding. It follows a number of investments in the area of sport from Byrne's department.

"If I couldn't do it as minister for sport when could I do it," said the Fianna Fail deputy.

"The most important thing for me was to activate clubs to apply and by and large they did and Meath has got the highest amount of funding it has ever received and is up there among the top counties," he added.

"This will mean new and improved facilities right across the county, I hope that it is a start, I'd like to do more, our young people in particular badly need it."

Byrne says the delivery of the Navan Rail Line will be top priority for him and his party going forward into the next government.

"Work has been started on planning for the Navan Rail Line and we want to see that delivered," explains the Meath East TD.

"It is something I want to see happen and Fianna Fail will make sure it happens," he adds.

"We need better public transport around the county as well and there's already work on the DART+ West and the DART+ North which is going to help commuters in South Meath and East Meath."

Housing is another major issue that Byrne says his party is committing to tackling.

"We need to make sure all of our young people are housed, that is going to mean an increase population and that is going to require new and better facilities as a result," he said.

"One area that is particularly close to my heart is working with families of children with special needs. There is a lot of work to do there and work that I want to prioritise during this Dáil term."

Commenting on the fact that Meath has the lowest number of Gardai per head of population in the country, Deputy Byrne said:

"Michael Martin has said that Fianna Fail want to take the position of Justice because we are not happy how things have worked out.

"There is concern about Garda numbers across the county, the public are telling us and we do have to address and Fianna Fail is absolutely determined to address that people all across the country but particularly in areas of growing population will feel safe and secure in their own communities."

It was revealed earlier this month that before work can proceed on the delivery of a new station for Laytown, a project Drew Harris gave his commitment to in 2022 a business case would have to be completed by the OPW and An Garda Siochana, in what was viewed as a step backwards by some local councillors.

"We need to accelerate the delivery of new Garda station," said Byrne.

"It is a huge issue on the doors in Laytown, people do not feel secure about the Garda presence in that area," he added.

The TD for Meath East says he is "up the for the challenge" in delivering on the issues affecting his constituents the most.

"Ireland has a country has made huge progress and Meath has made a lot of progress but I think we can do more and I'm certainly up for the challenge of doing a lot more. "