Quinn loses 35-year hold

No regrets from Quinn as he bows out after 35 years


Anton McNulty

THERE will be a number of new faces joining the old guard into the Council chamber but one familiar face who will not be there will be Tim Quinn who lost his seat for the first time - 35 years after he was first elected.
The top vote puller in the the election five years ago was relegated into fifth place in the Belmullet Electoral Area ending one of the longest reigns in the Council’s history. Speaking to The Mayo News the day following the result, the former councillor was pragmatic about his defeat admitting that mistakes were made in his campaign but that he had also been another victim of the anti-government sentiment.
“I would say I was a victim of the swing against the party and it was only in the last few week’s that I got out canvassing. I have a full-time office in Belmullet for the last ten years and I felt it was sufficient rather than having to go out knocking on doors. I believe in life you make your own decision and live by them. I ran a campaign in conjunction with the party and the family who worked 100 per cent for me and I feel more sorry for them than myself.
“However, there is huge anger out there with Fianna Fáil and rightfully so. A lot of the decisions made over the last number of months have been anything but consumer friendly. It put fierce pressure on us as a party and people got angry and I can safely say I got angry myself. I thought the majority of the issues would be local but there was an element out there who would vote for anyone but Fianna Fáil,” he said.
While he does not agree with many of the decisions made by the government, he feels that ‘without money in the kitty’ a change of leader will make not a difference nor will a change of government. However, he said the role played by party headquarters in local politics needed to be reviewed before the party would start to regain seats in Mayo.
“There was too much dictation from the top and less of that should be the first step and more power given back to the local party workers. They felt excluded and there was no conventions which would fire them up. They also wanted candidates to do interviews but on principle I refused and I also feel we should have run a third candidate in Ballycroy.”
Tim admitted that from an early stage when the boxes were being opened that he was in trouble and said he would miss the friendship in has made in the Council. “However, life is above that and is more than politics. There are people in hospitals up and down the country getting worse results than I got. I have fought 15 elections and I don’t regret anything in particular.”