Pensioner to stand in local elections

Pensioners in a scheme of sheltered accommodation in Dublin have put forward their own candidate for the local elections.

Pensioners in a scheme of sheltered accommodation in Dublin have put forward their own candidate for the local elections.

St Helena's Senior Citizens' Voluntary Committee in Finglas has campaigned - unsuccessfully so far - for some years for the restoration of a full-time warden service to sheltered home complexes.

Mr Billy Keegan, a 68-year-old former city councillor for the Labour Party and a resident of St Helena's, is standing for election on behalf of the committee.

Mr Keegan says a number of deaths of people in sheltered accommodation in recent years could have been prevented if there had been full-time wardens on-site. Though in poor health, he says he is determined to fight on.