This article is from page 18 of the 2008-05-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 18 JPG
FORMER TD and county council- lor James Breen is planning his come pe
The colourful politician announced this week that he intends to contest the next local election in 2009.
Not content just with a possible re- turn to local politics, the Independent candidate who got a taste for national
politics as part of the last Dail is also planning to run in the next General Election.
He took some time to consider his future after losing his seat to Fine Gael’s Joe Cary in last May’s Gen- eral Election.
The Kilnamona man was never too far from the world of politics howev- er, as he remained a regular attendee at public meetings and kept a firm in-
terest in the Ennis General Hospital Development Committee and MRSA and Families Network.
“Nothing has improved in_ the health services,” he said.
‘But I am not a one issue candidate. I stand for the betterment of the peo- ple of county Clare in all areas,” he SrHCGe
He said he was really looking for- ward to the election. “I’m just wait-
ing for the minute and the hour to fey sen me Lies heee be ee
The former Fianna Fail and later Independent Clare County Council- lor will not decide what electrical area he will run in, until the bounda- ries are decided.
He will however run as an Inde- pendent candidate.
He was elected as an Independent candidate to the Dail in 2002, after leaving the Fianna Fail party when he failed to get the party nomina- tion.
His formative years growing up in Kilnamona has had a strong influ- ence on his later life. Although not politically active his father was a Fine Gael supporter while his moth- er’s allegiance was to Fianna Fail.
Throughout his early life he took an interest in political life but describes himself as a free lancer at the time with no allegiance to a particular TEA
In 1966 he was approached to form a local cumann for Fianna Fail.
In 1979 he ran for local election on the Fianna Fail ticket and while he was not elected at that stage he was successful in 1985. He represented the party in Clare until 2002.
On February 11, 2002, James walked away from the soldiers of destiny after 36 years and decided to march alone when he did not make the party ticket.
He will begin the march again – door-to-door next year.