Sean Kelly glad of GAA experience as he starts off in Strasbourg (July 16th, 2009)
July 16, 2009 at 10:23 am Leave a comment
The similarities between GAA Congress and the European Parliament in full session was what struck former GAA President Sean Kelly as he joined over 700 new MEPs in France this week. ‘This is twice as big as Congress, with dozens of different languages, but the same principles apply of proposing motions, casting votes and moving on,’ said Fine Gael MEP for Munster.
Mr Kelly was also appreciative of the logical approach taken by MEPs to debating legislation. ‘When I look at the political opportunism of the Dáil, a lot of it is a throwback to faction-fighting, where politicians challenge each other simply because of what party they’re from,’ he said. ‘The European Parliament is more about finding the best solution, getting people on side, and getting things done – like the GAA.’
Sean Kelly has been elected to two key committees within the European Parliament where he hopes to wield his negotiating skills: the Regional Committee which controls the allocation of structural and cohesion funding, and the Industry, Research and Energy Committee. ‘I’m determined to make a strong case of increasing Munster’s share of EU funds in these areas, as the criteria that applied five years ago has changed drastically since the recession,’ he said.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: .
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed