Johnny Gogan
With my strong grounding in community action and the arts I will contribute to building stronger communities in the face of the challenges ahead, including the challenge of Climate Change.
As an independent filmmaker with a track record in making things happen, I will bring new thinking to local government in Sligo as the council's first Green representative.
Transport - We can build on the progress in Public Transport and Active Travel under the Green Party's policy leadership in government, including through original plans I will propose for greater access and freedom of movement. Public transport is connecting the city to its hinterland and can do so more. This has clear Social Inclusion benefits and can contribute to the economic well-being of Sligo, for example in facilitating greater access to ATU and to the city's night-time economy.
Housing – Do everything to increase the supply of well-designed future proofed homes with strengthened local authority input. We need a range of housing to suit different family sizes and different generation needs. To facilitate this the Local Authority requires access to affordable land.
Regional Capital - Sligo is the regional capital. There are a number of ways we can assert this role. One is to build on the cultural strengths of Sligo through promotion of the Arts, the Film and Television industry and the bid to achieve World Heritage Status for our unique archaeological heritage.
Experience
I am an award-winning filmmaker whose internationally distributed work includes Netflix titles Black Ice (filmed in Strandhill) and Hubert Butler Witness to the Future, as well as the Amazon Prime documentary Prisoners of the Moon, shot on location in Sligo. A previous Sligo-Leitrim General Election candidate in 2011, I am a founding member and former chair of the local group which spearheaded the groundbreaking environmental legislation banning “fracking” in 2017.
