This article is from page 6 of the 2011-02-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
ONE young west Clare man is fighting back against the current cynical reaction to politics by preparing to put his own name forward for the General Election.
Brian Markham, a member of the well know Kilmurry McMahon family, is determined to have his name on the ballot sheet on polling day as an Independent candidate.
The 23-year-old told The Clare People he “wants to make a difference” and “go out and do something”.
A qualified PE teacher, he currently works in O’Flaherty’s Electrical Shop in Ennis.
A keen sportsman, he has represented the county and province in athletics at international level.
He has been involved with Shannon Gaels and Coolmeen GAA clubs and is known for organising several Community Games events for local children.
A past pupil of St Flannan’s College in Ennis, he attended university in London.
“During these four years I began to learn how important it is to make your opinions heard and how important it is to have a representative that you can trust in. I was an active member of the Students Union where we were told about the issues troubling the student body. It was then our duty to convey the thoughts of the students to the relevant boards and do our best to get different rules and improvements implemented,” he said.
“I have now been back home in Ireland for five months. During this time I have witnessed possibly one of the worst periods in Irish politics. The country is in an extremely poor state and this is primarily down to mismanagement and big name politics.
“In the time I have been home I have seen several of my friends unwillingly being forced to leave our wonderful country in search of employment and what looks to be a better future than the one that is in store in this country,” he added.
“I would like to make clear that I do believe in co-operating with big business and foreign multinationals because of the jobs and growth they bring to our country. However, pandering to the banks has resulted in a loss of sovereignty, in that we are bound by conditions imposed by the EU and IMF bailout, high unemployment and a generation of our best and brightest leaving by the day. This is where traditional politics has let us down.”
He believes that Independent TDs will be very influential in the next Dáil.
Among the issues that he believes the election campaign should be fought on are the demise of Shannon Airport and the Shannon area, the future of Ennis General Hospital and the need for improvement to local infrastructure.