Athlone Sinn Féin condemns 'political circus' co-option process

Athlone's Sinn Féin representative Conor Dowling-Linehan has described as a “political circus” the current co-option process to replace Jamie Moran, who resigned from the council earlier this month.

Ex-Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and former councillor Paul Hogan look set to go head to head in a contest at next Monday's monthly meeting of Westmeath County Council in a bid to fill the vacant seat, the Westmeath Independent understands.

Nominations had to be in by last Monday to fill the vacancy created by the shock resignation of Jamie Moran.

Five people had publicly declared an interest in the seat but it's understood only Boxer Moran and Paul Hogan reached the required back of six members of six council members to get into the contest.

Typically, in a co-option situation, where a member has resigned, a successor is nominated by the outgoing councillor and elected unopposed. However, that was never on the cards here as it became very clear that the nomination of Boxer Moran by his son Jamie would be contested.

Explaining why Sinn Féin did not forward someone for the vacancy, Conor Dowling-Linehan said: “Having consulted with members of both Sinn Féin branches in Athlone, the Liam Ryan cumann and the Costello-Hurson cumann, as well as with members of the public and party leadership, we have decided not to contest the vacant council seat left by Cllr Moran’s recent resignation on behalf of Sinn Féin.

“Sinn Féin fully intends on putting a number of candidates forward across Westmeath at the next local elections and we will fight tooth and nail to get as many councillors elected as possible through the ballot box and with the support of the people.

“The current vacancy on the council will not go to a public vote. The co-option will be decided by the politicians remaining on Westmeath County Council. Given the dominant position that the government parties have on this body, for Sinn Féin to propose a candidate would be nothing more than a publicity stunt with no chance of success.

“More importantly, it would set a terrible precedent by endorsing the current process which is undemocratic and based on factional, parish pump politics.

“The current composition of the council, as elected two years ago, does not reflect where public opinion is today. Furthermore, rather than respect the results of the last election or the current polls, the dominant parties are now trying to find solutions that serve their own personal political interests. It has become a political circus of rumours and intrigue which is distracting from the real bread and butter issues,” Mr Dowling-Linehan said.

“It is my belief that it should be the people who decide their representatives and we aim to give them a radical alternative during the next election. For now, our focus is on community activism and helping the people of Athlone wherever we can,” the SF representative ended.