Hollymount cllr Patsy O’Brien yesterday announced that he will be running as an Independent candidate in the upcoming General Election.
Cllr O’Brien was recently re-elected to Mayo County Council in the Claremorris area with over 2,700 first preference votes.
Since the Local Elections, he says that he has been inundated with requests from members of the public to launch a General Election bid.
Cllr O’Brien says that the prospect of a Dáil seat has become increasingly enticing with the expansion of Mayo’s TD seats from four to five.
Along with this, Mayo is guaranteed at least two new TDs with Michael Ring announcing that he will not run for election again.
The General Election is due to take place before March of next year.
Furthermore, cllr O’Brien says that it would be a ‘mammoth task’ for someone from the Claremorris Swinford Municipal District to be elected to Dáil Éireann, but it would be very important to have an Oireachtas member residing in that area.
He also said that despite the role of a politician at national level becoming increasingly difficult, evident in the amount of resignations that have been announced by TDs in recent months, this does not deter him from his plans.
Independent cllr O’Brien has been speaking to Midwest Radio’s Rian Bailey, firstly highlighting his reasons for running:
