This article is from page 3 of the 2007-09-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THERE is anger and frustration among the rank and file of the sol- diers of destiny in Clare and along the west coast, with some long serv- ing members of the Fianna Fail party proposing to resign if “things do not change”.
A motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach was unanimously passed by the Ennis No | Cumman last week, by members who just months before canvassed for the party lead- er.
Now with the Aer Lingus crisis pointing to an uncertain future for the economy of the future and the death knell sounding in the distance for A and E services at Ennis Gen- eral Hospital, the grass roots of the main Government party are begin- ning to revolt.
Former Ennis Town Councillor Michael Guilfoyle, who proposed the motion of no confidence, said, “If things don’t sort themselves out I’ll be gone.”
The Ennis man, who has been a member of the party for 35 years,
said, “I defended Bertie at the doors before the election and when we needed Bertie he wasn’t to be found.
‘There was no one reason (for the motion), just years of frustration for people like myself who feel we are no longer being listened to.”
Ennis Town Councillor Tom Glynn (FF) said most people felt there was now a Sell out of the west but he did not feel resigning from the party was the way forward for him despite his erowing frustration.
“I think you are better off fighting from within than without. They can
ignore me even more from without,’ he said.
Meanwhile “angry and frustrated” Fianna Fail councillors from Burton Port in Donegal to Caherciveen in Kerry gathered in Oranmore to dis- cuss how they would ensure that the Aer Lingus crisis remained on the Government’s agenda.
Organised by Clare councillors Pat Daly, Peter Considine and Bernard Hanrahan, the 60 to 70 councillors in attendance set up the Fianna Fail Western Councillors’ Alliance.
“We believe that the Programme
for Government is not being rolled out in an even manner,’ Cllr Consti- dine told