“I really do miss the council, it was a great grounding and base for someone in politics and I learned a lot there. It’s the coal face of politics in Ireland, the saying is that all politics is local in Ireland and at that level it’s as local as you can get.” Up until the dual mandate was eliminated it wasn’t a rare site to see TDs also being county councillors and Deputy Beverley Flynn was no different. After being co-opted on to Mayo County Council in 1996 and then elected in 1994 the Castlebar based-TD knows what it’s like to be on the ground level in local politics.
Last month she sat in on the Joint Oireachtas Committee meeting, where the Mayo County Development Plan was given a full airing at national level and gave her backing to the county council members’ plans. “Nobody knows better than those who work on the ground as to what is for the best for the county and I said that at the meeting. This is a serious issue for all the councillors in Mayo and will be in the lead-up to the local elections next year. The whole system of the time frame in relation to the plan being passed by the council and the Minister’s direction being given and put into effect is a major issue that will be looked at next year and needs to be. Because there seems to be absolutely no room for discussion on the matter in the time frame at the minute, because when the Minister made a decision the diktat comes into force and there should be a period where both sides can discuss the plan and see what can be done. I’m still hopeful that there will be discussion between the Department and the council, because as I have said before, nobody knows better than those at the local level.”
Fresh injection needed
With next June’s elections nearing it’s changed times for the Fíanna Fáil party in Mayo since Dep Flynn was a county councillor. “When I was elected we held the balance of power in the council and unfortunately for the party that was lost in the last local elections. It’s time that we put a new injection into the party on the local level in the next elections, there are fine councillors there who have loads of experience, but we need to balance that out with some youthful candidates who people can get excited about alongside the experienced ones who are there already. We have to put a few new faces up with new ideas, that’s key for the Fíanna Fáil party if we are to win back the majority in the council.
Unity will be key
Party unity will be key if Fíanna Fáil are to win more seats this time around and Dep Flynn will be giving her backing to all the candidates in Mayo next year. “For me it’s critically important that we move forward as a united party in Mayo for the benefit of everybody involved, there is no room for infighting because it does nobody any good at all when it comes to voting time. Being outside the party for four years showed me how problematic it is and now being back in the party I will be doing my bit for party unity in the run-up.”
Will we see Dep Flynn on the doorstep and standing side by side with her party colleagues when it comes to the election next year? “You certainly will, I will be canvassing for the party’s nominations in Castlebar next year and I will be backing all the party’s candidates as we try to win back the support of the people in the county and show them that we will listen to the people on the ground and what they have to say and what they think are the issues that need to be addressed.”
