Rev Patrick Towers, the former rector of St Nicholas Collegiate Church, has announced that he will not be standing for election as a Green candidate in June’s Local Elections.
In a move that will disappoint Green party members, the Anglican cleric’s parishioners, and Galwegians in general, the flamboyant Londoner told the Galway Advertiser this week that he will not be running for a local authority seat.
“In a sense I would be jumping from the pulpit to the soapbox without a pause,” he said. “There are also outstanding commitments which I have to attend to in March and April and that would not leave me with much time to mount a campaign and gather together a team for June.”
Rev Towers had expressed an interest in running for politics before his retirement as rector of St Nicholas’ and was in discussions with the Greens about standing in for either the Galway city or county council.
However a lack of preparation time and his retirement, which only properly began last week, but will still see him involved in the life of Galway’s Anglican communion, have forced him to reconsider.
“If I was President Obama’s age I might be able to balance the demands of the religious culture and the secular,” he said. “It’s a great pity as I love the hustings and the debate, but I need to prepare rather better to take on the searching issues that anybody in politics must be prepared to face these days.”
