This article is from page 9 of the 2014-05-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
JUST minutes after Ian Lynch was deemed elected to Clare County Council for the first time, Fine Gael co-ordinator Jim Madden shook the Independent councillor’s hand.
The former Fine Gael man had been unsuccessful at the party’s convention last November and decided to go it alone in an attempt to secure a seat for the town of Kilrush.
Shortly after he realised that ambition, the outgoing Kilrush town councillor and new county councillor promised “to shake up” the new county council.
Asked if his election was Fine Gael’s loss, Cllr Lynch said, “I don’t know whose loss it is; it is a gain for West Clare. I put myself forward. I was always going to run the race. People voted for me and my job is to serve the people. Parties shouldn’t come into this level of politics. Parties are for a bigger arena. I put myself forward as an Independent candidate and I got elected to the seat as an Independent and I have a lot of work to do now,” he said.
His former colleague on Kilrush Town Council Marian McMahon Jones (FG), who was eliminated on the fourth count, also wished the new councillor well, saying she was happy that the town of Kilrush had a candidate.
Cllr Lynch believes his work on the town council helped his work, but realised it was always going to be an uphill battle for a newcomer to be elected in the West Clare area, where nine sitting councillors were going for eight seats.
“The last few weeks of the canvass were crazy. I am not sure who was pregnant there for a while, me or Rene,” he said referring to his partner, whom he has promised to take on a long weekend away to make up for his absence over the last number of months.