Carlow woman elected Mayor of German town reacts to rise of far right party in her adopted country

A shock but not a surprise.

That’s how the rise of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany is being described by a town Mayor who’s originally from Carlow as preliminary results place the far-right party tops in a state election.

Deirdre Heckler, nee Dooley, is a native of Highfield and moved to Breuberg in the early 1990s.

She’s the first female and first foreign national to hold the elected post of its first citizen. (Hear her last interview on KCLR here).

Mayor Heckler has been outlining the political scene there on today’s The KCLR Daily – hear her conversation with our Brian Redmond here;