Politics

Cork Fianna Fáil councillor leaves to run as independent, citing failure to listen to ‘ordinary people’

William O’Leary is third councillor in recent weeks to depart in the wake of asylum seeker housing criticism

Councillor William O'Leary said Fianna Fáil had abandoned many of the values to which he subscribed. Photograph: Fianna Fáil

Jack Horgan-Jones
Tue Mar 26 2024 - 12:12

A Cork Fianna Fáil councillor has announced that he will run as an Independent candidate in upcoming local elections, decrying its “failure” to listen to “the ordinary people”.

Fermoy Councillor William O’Leary published a statement on his Facebook page which said he has “been disgruntled for some time” and that while he had taken the decision with a “heavy heart”, he felt it was the “right one”.

He is the third Fianna Fáil councillor to leave the party in recent weeks following two in Co Galway - Cllr Seamus Walsh and Cllr Noel Thomas - who had been critical of plans to house asylum seekers in the area.

Cllr O’Leary, who last year described people protesting against plans to house asylum seekers in Fermoy as “genuine, decent people”, wrote that the party was failing to listen to ordinary people on everyday issues and to him personally.

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He criticised the composition of the current Government and said he voted against the Coalition, arguing that any good government required “an even stronger opposition” to keep it “on its toes”.

“In my view when these parties joined in Coalition, strong opposition was lost,” he wrote, saying that there was as a result less pressure on Government to listen to “the needs of ordinary people”.

“From there this Government has adopted a drive on regardless approach,” he wrote, arguing that “Fianna Fáil as a party has changed dramatically over the past decade and have abandoned many core values that I would have held dear” and had “lost its identity”

“I have agonised long and hard over the last number of months about how I can best represent those who elect me. I have finally taken the very difficult decision that I must move forward as an Independent Candidate in the forthcoming elections,” he wrote.

Fianna Fáil had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

Last December, Cllr O’Leary said that Ireland was “going down a very dangerous path when you are branded ‘far right’ if your views differ from those of the establishment”. He made the remarks at a public meeting in Fermoy in the wake of two Galway councillors’ comments on Government immigration policy in the wake of a fire at a Rosscahill hotel in the county which had been earmarked to house asylum seekers.

His resignation is seen locally as unsurprising, although potentially a blow to the chances of Fianna Fáil securing a second seat in the Cork East constituency come the general election. Local sources said that Cllr O’Leary was part of a slate that polled strongly in 2019, and the party is hoping to pursue a seat in the north of the constituency to complement James O’Connor’s in the southern end.

Jack Horgan-Jones

Jack Horgan-Jones

Jack Horgan-Jones is a Political Correspondent with The Irish Times

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