"Whether we like it or not democracy is at a crossroads" - Michael Ring

The day after he announced publicly that he was not going to seek another term in the Dáil, Michael Ring’s desk started to overflow with good luck and thank you letters. His phone’s memory was under pressure to cope with the amount of text and WhatsApp messages sent from constituents and supporters from across Ireland.

“I got thousands of messages and cards and emails from all around the county. People who I did work for 20 and 25 years ago haven’t forgotten about me and sent me wonderful messages,” he told The Mayo News.

After months of ‘Will he, won’t he?’ speculation, Ring finally announced that he would be stepping down as a TD at the end of the current Dáíl, bringing 45 years of political life to a close.

“There is no point pretending; of course I will miss it. I have been at it for 45 years and it is part of my life. I have been going day and night for the last 45 years, and I know nothing else but being out there and doing the work and that needs to be done,” said the 70 year old.

“It will be strange but I have to look forward. In my opinion the election will be in November, so we will keep the show going until then and the minute the Dáíl is dissolved I am out and that is it then.”

The beginnings

Ring’s life in politics began when he was in his mid-20s, when Patrick Durcan and Jackie Gibbons called to his home in 1979 to try and persuade him to run in that year’s Westport Urban District Council election for Fine Gael.

The grandnephew of Joe Ring, a local IRA leader in the War of Independence who lost his life as a Free State Soldier in Co Sligo during the Civil War, Ring was from the right political gene pool to run for Fine Gael but at the time had little interest in running.

“I was selling bread and after building a new house with a young family and after getting married. When I thought about it I said I would not have time for this [politics]. I was getting up at six o’clock in the morning and working ’til 6 or 7 in the evening and how would I do it.”

He was eventually persuaded to put his name on the ballot paper, the first of many to come.

“I remember that election clearly. Seán Staunton topped the poll and I got 216 first preference votes. I fought Dáil elections, by-elections and council elections, but the most difficult election was always the urban because there were always over 20 candidates and difficult campaigns to win, but they were really enjoyable.

“I loved the urban council. When you think of the quality of people we had on the town council. We had fantastic people. Seamus Hughes, Patrick Durcan, Maragret Adams, JP Campbell, Ollie Gannon and wonderful people who were very committed to the town and to politics. We would have the odd row in the council but there would be no row over Westport, and when it came to the town and making decisions for the town we got it nearly always right,” he said.

Ring served as an urban district councillor for 15 years before he was elected to Dáíl Éireann, and believes that his apprenticeship served him well when he reached Leinster House and later sat in government.

Local government

A firm advocate of local government, he has gone on the record this week as saying the abolition of the town council’s in 2014 was the biggest mistake the government made. He admits to being frustrated with how local government is being run and believes some councillors are serving officials rather than the people.

“What is wrong with some councillors and TDs is they think the officials are elected, but they are selected and we are elected. The county councillors are the board of directors who decide what goes on, but instead it is the executive who decide what goes on, and that is not good enough. It is something which needs to be looked at from top to bottom.

“There are some very good councillors who are not afraid to speak their mind and say what they have to say. It is not about being disrespectful, but it cannot be all one sided; all sides have to be respected. The elected representative is the one they should be listened to, but instead it is some of the officials who are dictating to the elected representatives.

“And I do blame the media for that… I blame the national media because they could not give out and blame politicians enough. They were the ones who started the campaign to take the power away from politicians,” he said.

He cites the abolition of the health boards as another example of public representatives no longer being able to hold officials to account, a situation he believes has led to a worse health system.

“We are supposed to be advanced and everything is supposed to be instant. When you pick up the phone to any State agency what do you get; press one, two or three and after an hour you still don’t get anyone to answer. We have gone backwards.

“We might think we are more sophisticated, but I will tell you what happened. We are less in touch with people,” he said.

Social media

After being involved in politics for 45 years, Ring has built up a strong base. There is not a town or village in Mayo where he doesn’t know someone who he can call to advise him of the lie of the land.

However, in recent years, he has noticed that more people are not engaging in the political system, and he is worried for the future of local democracy.

“People are not prepared to get involved in politics, which is a pity because it is serious for democracy. Whether we like it or not democracy is at a crossroads at the moment. Facebook and that stuff is destroying democracy and people’s confidence in politicians,” he said.

Facebook and other social media is a big bugbear for Ring, who fears that misinformation being spread on various online platforms has for too long been left unregulated and needs to be reined in.

“I was on social media but I got off them after the last election, and it was the happiest day of my life. I don’t look at negativity all the time because if I was to be looking I would not get out of bed in the morning.

“Social media is uncontrolled, and if something is not done at European and world level and at national level then God help young parents today. God help anybody who has young children and the temptation and pressure they are under.

“We don’t know what’s coming into these phones now. Something has to be done to control this. Wait ’til this AI [artificial intelligence] gets further advanced. We won’t know what’s true and what is lies.”

Putting in the work

In the six general elections Ring has fought, he has averaged a first preference vote of 11,800. It came to a stage where his political rivals in Mayo knew there was no point in attacking him, as there would be only one winner.

When questioned on his popularity among the public, Ring puts it down to simply working hard and getting out and listening to people. He believes that politics is still about meeting people and representing them, but he does not believe the new generation of TDs are prepared to put in that work.

“I will tell you one thing: they don’t want to work like we did and don’t want to do what we did and put the time we put into it. They want to be ministers the minute they are in the door and that is it. That is part of the problem.

“I was nine-and-half years as a minister, and thanks be to God I got in clean and got out clean. The one thing I tell you, in the last government and the government before it, every minister got into trouble, but I was lucky enough. What stood to me is I understood how politics worked because I was a town councillor and a county councillor, and I was 17 years in opposition and a spokesperson on many topics, and some I did not know a lot about.

“It is like any job, it is an apprenticeship. I had the experience. I find that some of the sitting TDs now go in and get ministries when they never had council experience and it is a disadvantage to them.”

Family man

Behind every great man there is a great woman, and there is no denying that in Ring’s case his wife, Ann, has been a driving force behind his electoral success. She has managed his constituency office unpaid for 30 years, and he knows that without her by his side he would not be able to do half what he has achieved.

“I have the best team in Ireland, the three best workers. They are the three most capable ladies I ever come across across. Maggie Lyons and Suzanne my daughter are so capable and multi-talented; there is nothing they are not capable of doing, and they know how I think. I couldn’t do without the team.

“If you were given the job of running the health service, Ann would make a job of it and it wouldn’t be the mess it is.”