Jerry Cowley ready to battle for Labour in Mayo

Cowley first into election race


Familiar face ready for battle royal in Mayo constituency

Áine Ryan

WE’RE none the wiser as to when the next General Election will be but already the field is starting to take shape - with former Independent TD Jerry Cowley being the first man to throw his hat officially into the ring - this time in the red of Labour.
The Mulranny man is obviously keen to capitalise on the goodwill towards Labour which appears prevalent from recent opinion polls as he was chosen as the party’s Mayo candidate at their convention in Castlebar on Sunday night.
Dr Cowley described his new surroundings as his ‘natural home’.
“I have always thought Labour – I see it as a natural progression from my community agenda – Labour’s policies are community policies which are about people – and not about supporting a few builders and developers and their golden circle of ‘hangers –on’,” Dr Cowley said.
In an impassioned speech, the longtime GP, and Ballina native, quoted from Michael Davitt’s 1879 address at Gurteen, County Sligo, when he said of the landlord system, ‘the time has come when the manhood of Ireland will spring to its feet and say it will tolerate this system no longer’.
“I have a long history of fighting for and supporting community endeavours and projects in Mayo, and elsewhere. I admire and respect the enormous contribution that is made on a daily basis by the community and voluntary sector to deliver services the state cannot, or will not, provide. In my daily work as a GP, I see the devastation this current government has caused to communities and families,” he said. “People in Mayo put their trust in me before and I am asking them to do the same again- and I will not let them down.”
Dr Jerry Cowley was the first TD to be elected in Mayo in 2002. Bonfires were lit all over west Mayo and Achill, as the Ballina native was swept to power with a resounding 8,709 first preference votes and 13.72 per cent of the vote. In fact, it was Michael Ring who actually topped that poll with 9,880 first preferences and 15.56 per cent of the vote.
Five years later, however, the results were dramatically different. Eliminated after the sixth count, Cowley only achieved 3,407 first preference votes.
Having dramatically risen from the ashes of his one-term stint in DΡil Éireann, he conceded to The Mayo News some months ago he was disappointed by his defeat in June 2007 but ‘took it in good parts’.
Despite approaches by all the major parties in the past – Fianna FΡil, Fine Gael and even the PDs – Dr Cowley has never before been a member of a political party.
The last Labour Party TD to represent Mayo was Tom O’Connell who led the party between 1927 and 1932. He was born near Knock and was a TD for Mayo South during that period. The former party leader, Pat Rabbitte is a native of Ballindine.
It would appear at present that all five sitting TDs are expected to run again in the next General Election and another man who has intimated that he is likely to run is Michael Kilcoyne, Independent councillor in Castlebar. Ballina Fine Gael councillor, Michelle Mulherin, is also likely to seek a nomination after a strong showing last time while others who may seek a nomination on the Fianna FΡil ticket are former TD and Senator John Carty, Fianna FΡil Achill based councillor Michéal McNamara and Swinford-based solicitor, Michéal Smyth, who performed commendably when just missing out on a County Council seat last year in his foray into politics.