Cllr. Mick Dollard who has been a Labour councillor since 1984, confirmed to Topic this week that he intends to contest the upcoming local elections as an Independent candidate. He was scathing in his criticism of the Labour Party, which he said has lost its core values and no longer represents working class people due to its failure to deliver social housing while in government from 2011-2016.
By Claire Corrigan
Cllr. Dollard said that he did not attend the Labour Party selection convention, which took place last Friday night, adding that he has not been involved with the party for years. “I haven’t paid membership to the Labour Party since 2014. I was never going to run as a Labour candidate in the next election. I had my mind made up a long time ago. It’s widely known now in political circles that I haven’t been active in the Labour party for the last number of years,” he said.
Cllr Dollard added that he did not canvass for Willie Penrose in the last General Election and said he believed that the Labour Party have “no values” anymore. “They lost their Labour values when they were in Government with Fine Gael. Areas that are very close to my heart, such as social housing provision and social welfare; there were huge cutbacks in those areas,” he said.
“People who are in government make decisions on where cuts are going to be made and where the money is going to be spent, and the Labour Party should have ensured the construction of social housing, for instance. It’s now a big buzz word, but the problem arose as far back as 2008, when the Labour Party were in Government, when all the problems arose and they never put the money into housing construction. They were giving out large sums of money for the Rental Accommodation Scheme, which is like flushing money down the toilet, because it was the landlords who were getting the money.
“The council didn’t have an asset at the end of the day and people had no security or tenure, and that is one of the reasons why you have so many people on the housing list in Westmeath and so much homelessness,” he added.
Cllr Dollard, a long-time poll topper as a Labour Councillor, said that at Westmeath County Council level, he urged the council to build houses and buy houses when they were very cheap but they wouldn’t listen to me. It was all on the basis of government directives.
“I became very disenchanted with the Labour Party and people on the street are, too. I’ve been with the Labour Party since 1977 and became a public representative back in 1984, and I had always been a proud member of the party, looking after working people. But I couldn’t from 2008 onwards,” he said.
“There are personal reasons as well, but it is mostly for political reasons, and I look forward to the challenge and am happy to be Independent and doing my own thing. I will continue to represent people to the best of my ability,” he added.
LABOUR IS BIGGER
Deputy Willie Penrose responded, saying he is aware Cllr Dollard hadn’t been supporting him, but stressed that the Labour Party is bigger than any individual.
“I’m not surprised, if that’s what he said. I didn’t hear that. I can’t compel anybody to vote for me, but that just shows you that he hasn’t been involved with the Labour Party for a long number of years. I was aware that he wasn’t supporting me a any level, so I just got on with it,” said Deputy Penrose.
“The Labour Party is bigger than Mick Dollard, or anybody else. It’s there since 1912 and it’s the oldest political party in the land. It will be there long after I and Cllr Dollard have passed on,” he declared.
The Labour Party is facing a massive test in the upcoming Local Elections, it seems, with such a clear divide in what was once a major force in Westmeath.
