It's difficult for anybody to get a job these days, but they face particular problems, many of them have been away for a long time. They don't have that employment history. They have to indicate if they've ever been convicted of a crime.

Michael Fitzpatrick

Michael Fitzpatrick was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was elected as Teachta Dála for the Kildare North constituency at the 2007 general election, and served until 2011. He was a member of Kildare County Council for the Clane electoral area from 1999 to 2007. He was a member of the Garda Síochána from 1961 to 1972. He was the constituency manager in Kildare for former Minister for Finance and European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy from 1992 to 2007. He also was a Kildare mayor. In 2010, he was diagnosed with motor neurone disease. In an interview with The Irish Times on 12 March 2010, he said he intended to keep working as a TD. Fitzpatrick said he had “compared notes” with Brian Lenihan. “We are both on a journey. We talk and chat to one another about our illnesses”. He gave a presentation on his condition to the Irish Motor Neurone Research Foundation. He lost his seat in the general election in February 2011 and died in October 2011. Fianna Fáil cancelled its Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, County Kildare as a mark of respect. His funeral was in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Allenwood, County Kildare.

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