Dail seat sets seal on rise of new star

She was one of Fine Gael’s success stories on the national stage on a day when they were few and far between – but Hildegarde Naughton views her election to the Dail as indicative of the public’s desire for a new generation at the top.

“People were ready to have a new generation coming forward. We engaged with people on the doorstep; we engaged with the issues.

“These were people with young families, children, mortgages, childcare issues; they really wanted to see somebody who understood their issues, said the former primary school teacher and Senator immediately after her election on Sunday.

It has been a meteoric rise through the ranks from City Council to Seanad to Dail – but equally the city woman is steeped in the history of the party.

“No one in my family has ever been elected, but we’ve always supported whoever was running here in Galway West – so it’s a very proud day for my father PJ, who has worked so hard over the years for the party and I’m delighted for him.

“Little did he know many years ago when he was canvassing that I’d be running for Dail Eireann,” she said.

On reflection, she saw her appointment to the Seanad as key because it gave her the opportunity to become a full-time public representative.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.