Independent Cllr Chris O'Leary joins SF

bijapos

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/0708/breaking29.html

Seems Chris O'Leary has joined SF. I don't know him personally but met him once or twice on a couple of community development projects. I never knew he had leanings towards SF though. He is a former member of the Greens but left in Jan 09 and got elected as an Independent in the 2009 locals.

Another example of the merry go round of councillors in the country, elect, resign, co-opt, jump ship, elect...

Either way the two times I met him he made a good impression on me and he seems to be doing good work in the community where I got the impression he is well respected.

Does anyone know why he joined SF?

mike65

Scratch a green...;)

Eliot Rosewater

During the Local elections he had a poster in Mahon that read something similar to "People Before Profit". I think it might have been "People Before the Rich Elite".

In any case, it was basically the kind of slogan one expects of the SWP or those kind of Left-wing groups. I think the slogan's reflective of his ideology.

So, yeah, can't say I'm surprised. Perhaps he went to SF in lieu of the hard-Left to retain some degree of electibility.

sceptre

Semi-interestingly, O'Leary was elected to Cork city council last time out in count 7 - the candidate eliminated in count 7 was Sinn Fein's Ken Ahern. Probably reasonably safe to assume that O'Leary will be running in the next Dail election, judging by the "ambitious" reference in today's Cork Indo, but given that his last day out for a Dail seat got him 3.5% of the vote, he'll have to do a lot of running to be successful in that quest.

I suspect that, given his existing SF connections (one of his brothers is a former councillor in Cork for SF), he probably decided to jump ship over a year ago and left a gap he considered respectable, for want of a better word. He probably also realised that if he is indeed an "ambitious politician", it's easier in the next election to get elected to the Dail as a representative of SF than as either an independent or as a Green Party member. That's ambition for you.

dlofnep

bijapos wrote: »

Either way the two times I met him he made a good impression on me and he seems to be doing good work in the community where I got the impression he is well respected.

Does anyone know why he joined SF?

Probably because Sinn Féin are known around Ireland for their hard work they do in ther respective communities. He obviously agrees with Sinn Féin's political views.

Actually, the answer is in the article that you posted.

Mr O’Leary said this morning he had decided to join Sinn Féin because of the party’s stance on job creation and investment in communities, action on anti-social behaviour and drugs and its opposition to Nama and public service cutbacks

“I have come to the conclusion that joining Sinn Féin is the best way I can contribute to building the genuine political alternative our city needs,” he said.

Nodin

mike65 wrote: »

Scratch a green...;)

...get FF fleas?

FTA69

I suspect that, given his existing SF connections (one of his brothers is a former councillor in Cork for SF), he probably decided to jump ship over a year ago and left a gap he considered respectable, for want of a better word. He probably also realised that if he is indeed an "ambitious politician", it's easier in the next election to get elected to the Dail as a representative of SF than as either an independent or as a Green Party member. That's ambition for you.

His brother was also convicted of IRA membership due to possession of a poster. Still, any conversation I ever had with him usually ended up with him stating that he had no interest in Republicanism.

Generally I'd say the thrust of your analysis is spot on. It now gives Sinn Féin a base in the Mahon area as well Faranree where he works in community development. Whether he'll toe the party line to the degree Sinn Féin expects remains to be seen.