This article is from page 7 of the 2011-03-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
EAST Clare county councillor John Crowe (FG) is quietly confident that he will get the nomination to contest a seat in the Seanad later today (Tuesday).
The Fine Gael councillor said he was very interested in running again for the upper house of the Oireachtas as he came very close to success the last time around. With more Fine Gael elected representatives in the country than in 2007 and the wind at the party’s back following its most successful general election ever, the Sixmilebridge man is even more confident of success. The county councillor contested a seat in the Industrial and Commercial Panel in July 2007. His party colleague north Clare councillor Martin Conway has already secured a nomination to run for the Administrative panel, having dipped his feet in the Seanad election pool the last time around. Mayor of Shannon and General Election candidate Tony Mulcahy (FG) said he would take some time to consider his options. The county councillor, who received 6,829 first preference votes in Friday’s General Election, was among the highest Fine Gael pollers not to be elected in the country.
He told The Clare People that he would spend this week concentrating on his business, and then consider all of his political options next week.
Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Daly, who also contested the Seanad election in 2007, has firmly ruled himself out of the running. “If you want to go into the Seanad you are either a defeated TD or an outgoing senator to join that exclusive club,” he said.
Meanwhile as one Corofin man – Tony Killeen – comes to the end of his political career, this week another is now hoping to take part in national politics. Former INTO President and Corofin National School principal Declan Kelleher has announced his intention to run as an Independent candidate on the NUI University Panel for Seanad Eireann.
The principal of Scoil Mhuire Náisiúnta, Corofin, and INTO national executive council representative was well known for leading protests against large class sizes during his term as head of the teachers’ union. The school teacher will now begin a campaign in a bid to win the seat currently held by outgoing senator Joe O’Toole, a former general secretary of the INTO.
Mr Kelleher is well aware however of many political party policies to dissolve the Seanad, but he believes it needs serious reform.
“Nobody could be blamed for calling for the abolition of the Seanad in its present form as it has been hijacked by the political parties and used as a retirement home by them for many politicians down through the years. I believe that the entire political system needs to be examined, radically overhauled and slimmed down,” he said.
There are almost 2,000 registered NUI voters in Clare out of a national total of 133,000.