Roderic O’Gorman gets mixed reaction on Dublin West doorsteps

With a sharp change in the weather, Roderic O’Gorman’s canvassers discuss how it is allegedly 9 degrees, before their candidate arrives at the meeting point outside a cafe in Castleknock, with seemingly endless pamphlets.
He has a more official coat, he says – presumably Green Party-branded – but he has broken out a more practical choice to shield him from the cold.
During a pre-canvass huddle, he tells his team: “Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin are all definitely going to get a seat in this constituency and I’m in the fight for the last two.”
A member of An Garda Síochána stands nearby as the Green Party leader and Minister for Children, Equality and Integration knocks on doors, asking those who are on the fence for “as close to number one as possible”, as it will be a “tight” race in the five-seater constituency of Dublin West.
Some constituents along Beechpark Avenue are steadfast in their promise to give him their first preference while others are less welcoming.
In a rush between houses, one of the volunteers ahead is speaking to a seemingly irate constituent, and as O’Gorman passes the house, the man, waving his walking stick from his front door, shouts that he is “useless”.
“Ask him to come over here,” he says to the volunteer, who leaves and makes his way to the next house, before saying in passing that “one in 100 would be like that”.
“You just take it on the chin,” O’Gorman says on negative reactions, including his experiencing “anti-LGBT” sentiments while canvassing in the past.
Despite this, and the fact that a 45-year-old man pleaded guilty to assaulting O’Gorman in Blanchardstown in early November, the politician says the current campaign is “way more positive than the local elections”.
“That was a hard campaign, I have to say. People were annoyed about a whole range of things, people were very much still in the cost-of-living squeeze.”
He believes that “quite a lot” of voters wish to see the Green Party in the next government.
“That’s really important because I think we all know FF and FG might want to move us along,” he says.
Ted Crowley from Carlow answers the door of his daughter’s home, explaining that he is minding his grandchildren. He believes the Green Party has made a positive contribution to the outgoing Coalition.
“I think the tragedy in Spain is going to focus people’s minds,” he says, referencing the floods in Valencia that claimed more than 220 lives.
“None of the other parties are really sounding that alarm like we are, and none of them have the plans to put in place,” O’Gorman tells the 75-year-old.
O’Gorman says climate change has regained attention “slightly” in recent months. He believes this is due to the cost of living easing for some, allowing them to refocus on more long-term issues.
Maureen Black, meanwhile, raises concerns over the “daft” number of vacant properties across Dublin amid record levels of homelessness. She says she would be “very sorry to see the Greens go”.
After she describes a lack of engagement from the Office of Public Works (OPW) on local issues, O’Gorman responds that the OPW is “a law unto themselves and always have been”, citing previous attempts to engage on the need for disability parking while a councillor.
Soon after, a volunteer wonders if the group is entering Aontú candidate Ellen Troy’s estate, concerned they might knock on her door in error.
Minutes later, a woman immediately declares her home as an “Aontú house” and declines the offer of O’Gorman’s pamphlet.
A woman called Nora, meanwhile, promises to give O’Gorman her number-one vote.
“They’re all saying the Greens are finished but they’re not, why would they be finished, with all the issues in the world like the floods and Trump?” she says.
Immigration is a concern for a woman a few doors down, who says there is “no housing left”.
“It was coming up viscerally during the locals and now there’s just a bit about it, it’s not a huge thing,” O’Gorman says, believing: “It’s indicative of the Government getting control over the situation and people seeing that.”
Nearby, Eileen Fogarty and her husband Peter remark on O’Gorman’s “huge workload” while Minister for Integration.
“It was a difficult area that you worked in, so while I might not have always agreed with you, I had to admire that you stuck at it,” Mr Fogarty says.
One of the final doors in the area is opened by Valerie, who says she has voted for O’Gorman in the past.
“You did really well, but I can’t do any more taxes from the Greens,” she tells him.
She laments rising costs as a result of increasing carbon taxes, saying the public should instead be incentivised to go green.
“We want to get solar panels but you have to hand out €7,000,″ she says, adding that if the party was serious about climate change, “they would be giving us all interest-free loans” to retrofit homes.
“We used to always vote for the Green Party, they’re the last ones I’ll be voting for now,” she says, adding that she will now be voting for Fine Gael.