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FF’s Olsevska raises eyebrows in Portlaoise

Last update - Thursday, February 5, 2009, 16:12 By Metro Éireann

A LITHUANIAN woman contesting the upcoming local elections has proposed to take Portlaoise residents on recuperative trips to her native country in order to beat the notoriously long queues at the nearby Midland Regional Hospital.


Ala Olsevska is among Fianna Fáil’s candidates for a seat on Portlaoise Town Council, and the Lithuanian woman has drafted an election programme which she admits has raised eyebrows among her party mentors.
Included in her campaign proposals are medical trips to Lithuania for local residents and the installation of solar batteries in homes, which is supposed to save the local authority millions of euro.
The draft version of Olsevska’s campaign programme states that Ireland’s medical services are “very expensive”, while there are “not enough specialists”. It continues: “I offer to organise trips for medical treatment to the other countries of EU, which include dental service and ultrasound diagnosis of the whole body.”
As an example, the Fianna Fáil candidate has named a hospital close to her hometown in Lithuania, which is located on the shores of a scenic lake. “People coming there from Ireland would not only undergo checkups faster and at a fraction of the cost here,” she promises, “they would also get a good rest. It’s like a holiday.”
She has also claimed that the town council can save millions of euro by replacing conventional heating with solar batteries.
“This is the beginning of my first idea to make a small step for the big Ireland,” states Olsevska’s draft programme. “In the interest of the local county council a programme has to be put in place for the installation of solar power systems.
“We ask the Government to pay half the price of the whole system, and the customer will pay the rest. This will save everybody money in the long run.”
Olsevska has been living in Ireland for almost eight years and works as a cook in the five-star Heritage Killenard Hotel. She is known among eastern European immigrants in Portlaoise for her activism, especially as the organiser of the Baltic Nights disco.
Caring for the local immigrant community is one of Olsevska’s key priorities. “There is a lack of cultural facilities for people to go to,” she said.
Having worked as a choreographer in Lithuania, she is especially keen on dance: “One of the things I would like to see in the town is a cultural centre where I could organise dancing classes, various clubs and a library with loads of books in different languages.”
She said there was a low turnout among eastern Euro-peans in the last local elections, but is hoping that immigrants will turn up in bigger numbers this summer. Olsevska has been canvassing Lithuanians living in Port-laoise and says she has already got up to 150 people to sign on the electoral register.
“The people have to recognise that nobody will look after their problems if they don’t take part in the political process,” she said.


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