Update on Honore Kamegni's Canvassing Activities

 

Dereliction on Albert Road

C. Thanks Honore for coming back to give an update on your activities. Have things been working out for you?

H. Things have been going well. I've been out and about canvassing among the different places…Boreenmana Road, Ballintemple, Ballinlough Road, for example.

Currently I'm covering Victoria Road and then onto Blackrock Road.

My team and I are really looking forward to covering the wide area, stretching over to Rochestown and Passagewest. I really welcome the opportunity.

I want to thank my campaign team for all the hard work.

I plan to call to all the houses at least twice before the elections, so I can get to know the concerns of people.

That will be thousands of houses. So far I’ve covered hundreds, day after day, week after week. If God gives me strength, I hope to reach my goal of all the houses in the Cork Southeast area. 

That means covering about 40,000 residents.

People have been very positive to me at the door. They said they welcome a fresh face and new ideas for the city council. This gives me great hope and drive to go further.

About one in five houses are delighted. I'm representing the Green party. So I'm delighted with that.

C. Do you feel you are going in the right direction so far?

H.  Yes, I feel I'm going in the right direction. From the kind of reception I’m getting from people I’ve been talking to, at the doors, it is very motivating to continue my work. As I said, they are happy to see a new face and hear new ideas.

Canvassing on Victoria Road, Elizabeth Tce, Albert Road, Richboro Road, Blackrock Road

C. So what are the new ideas you've been  talking to people about?

H. That's a very good question. I want to see Cork City a safer place to live in. People don't feel safe to move around anymore. For example, there is a look of abandonment in some places with many derelict buildings that could be fixed and become fine home for a lot of families in need of accommodations. I would like to improve that when I am elected. The Green Party is prepared to spend big on housing and it is good news for Cork. Council houses maintenance is something that I come across regularly. I want to follow up on this and get more investment into the effective maintenance of these neglected houses. Also, when I am elected, I want to get more investment/funding to develop/build more rainbow clubs in Cork. Currently, we only have one in Mahon, and it is not enough for a big city like Cork. I talk to pensioners who feel that they are abandoned and not looked after. It is not fair. These are people who worked all their lives to build this city, this country, they deserved better treatment. I want to get more investment for them when I am elected. Avenue de Rennes in Mahon looks abandoned. I want to follow up and get more investment put into developing and bringing some life into this lovely street.

On my journey around the place, I see a lot of potholes and roads in poor/bad conditions. More investment is needed here.

I want a 30km speed limit the norm in Cork city and see some improvement with speed calming on the Boreenmanna Road.

Meeting with Eamon Ryan, having a constructive discussion.

C. Anything else comes to mind?

H. I came across something interesting. A lot of people don’t know they have the right to vote in the local elections.

So I bring this bit of paper here with a scanning code that gets them to check the register. I had to tell them that everyone has the right to vote, immigrants and everyone.

When I'm at the door I check if they are registered to vote and show them this bit of paper with the scanning code on it. I'm surprised that people think they don’t have the right to vote. So it’s good to be able to tell them this. They are very delighted when I explain things to them. Many will scan straight away with their phone and check in with the register. www.checktheregister.ie

C Any other plans?

H. I hope to go into the schools in the very near future. I hope to get to the Dail in the very near future. I've been invited by Senator Pauline O'Reilly to go with with my family. So I'm very much looking forward to that. 

I will be continuing with my monthly clinic meetings with constituents at the Mahon Community Centre, helping with concerns. I've been able to help with concerns. That's a great thing to be able to do.

Canvassing with colleagues in Ballintemple



( Written by Celine Spengeman, September 2023, for everyone and everything green).