Citizens need to be at the heart of Europe and we need to move away from austerity - this was the message from MEP Phil Prendergast when she canvassed in Mitchelstown last week.

Speaking to The Avondhu on her visit to the town, the Labour MEP said that people are being asked to pay more and more tax and they simply don't have the money. She said that as someone who started working when she was 17, she appreciates how much pressure people are under.

Outlining the work she has done in Europe since being elected as an MEP for Ireland South in 2011, Phil has been involved in committees relating to consumers, agriculture and rural development.

WORKING TO CONNECT

"I do think that Europe should not be seen as somewhere to get a profile," she said, adding that the role in the EU involves an awful lot of work with committees and networking, as well as working with people on the ground. She added that the work she hopes to get done, can't be done in a few years and she hopes to be involved in the EU for another five years.

Putting her own case forward, Phil said: "Sean Kelly is a celebrity, Brian Crowley is iconic and Deirdre Clune is a dynasty, I'm an ordinary housewife." She added that she hopes voters will judge her on the small things she has done and recognise how hard she has been working to connect and reconnect Ireland with Europe.

Many in the Mitchelstown area would be aware of Phil's political work through her time in Clonmel as a councillor and mayor, as well as her work as a midwife in South Tipperary General Hospital. With her office just half an hour from Mitchelstown, the MEP stressed that last week's visit will not be her last to the town and she will be back to meet more voters before the elections in May.

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