Limerick poll-topper to step down from politics at next local election
HIGH-PROFILE Independent councillor and barrister Emmett O’Brien has revealed he will step down from politics after a decade sitting on the local authority.
The Pallaskenry man will not contest the upcoming local election in a move which throws the six-seater Adare-Rathkeale district wide open, given the retirement too of veteran councillor Kevin Sheahan.
“If you achieve what you set out to achieve in a 10-year period (but then continue), then you are drifting. You are on a kind of political social welfare after this,” Cllr O’Brien told the Leader this week.
“I have a very busy professional practice, I’m farming as well, and you do need to have a personal life,” he added.
His election in 2014 came against the backdrop of some controversy.
Formerly a member of Fianna Fail’s national executive, he was left furious after not receiving the party nomination to run for what was then the new Limerick City and County Council.
Entering the fray as an Independent, he topped the poll 10 years ago, with almost 20% of the vote.
He was also comfortably returned five years later.
In between times, the former chairman of Kildimo-Pallaskenry GAA - a club which of course has produced All-Star hurler Kyle Hayes - also ran in the general election.
Here, he came close to taking one of the three seats on offer.
Although the councillor says it was always his plan to step down after 10 years, the 2019 election, plus events during the
Covid-19 lockdown and what he feels has been a change in society have copper-fastened this decision.
“Locking us down for two years - the longest lockdown in Europe - had profound social consequences. It pitted neighbours against neighbours, family against family, friends against friends. The level of hostility I experienced among people was remarkable,” he said.
“There are a lot of social divisions. I’m a bit worried for the future,” he added.
During his decade in politics, Cllr O’Brien would tell you himself that he has been strident in his beliefs, often to his own cost.
“Maybe if I was to get ahead, be a bit smarter and cuter, I could have played the game, I could have kept my head down. But you’re there to make a difference. I’d certainly have strong beliefs. I have a strong political and moral compass and if I feel there is something fundamentally wrong I don’t hesitate in speaking out against it. I’m not a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian,” he added.
It is perhaps because of this that Cllr O’Brien has found himself on the receiving end of abuse through social media.
It’s got to the stage now that he has deactivated his profile on X, formerly Twitter, as he prepares to return to being a private citizen.
He also revealed he suffered some “very intense” bullying around the time of the last local election in May 2019.
“But, let’s face it: the people made their decision, the people sided with me on that occasion,” he pointed out.
“I had a close group of supporters who were very loyal to me, who were phenomenal and a very good local community in Kildimo-Pallaskenry and the Adare area who backed me. I love the people of Adare-Rathkeale and there is part of me which has struggled when it came to not running.”
In what is no doubt a thinly-veiled dig at some other members of Limerick City and County Council, the barrister said: “You can be the social media politician if you want, and take photographs yourselves.
“But at the end of the day, when you go into the pub to meet neighbours and friends, or you go to a birthday party, people will ask about when the road is being done. As councillors, we are not in the UN. We are there to fill potholes, get roads done, help people with housing needs and grants and try to direct the gardai in the right direction.”
He reserves warm words for councillor Kevin Sheahan - a man he’s often sparred with on occasion - who is retiring after almost 40 years in politics.
Both men are from the Shannon Estuary area of the county, and he believes this area produces “robust politicians”.
“When you live on the river, with a wind coming up against you, you have to make a decision. Are you going to go up against it, or are you going to go inside?” he asked.
Cllr O'Brien says he will always maintain an interest in politics.
“But, for now, I will be divesting myself and concentrating on my work on the farm and in my personal life,” he concluded.