Abbeyleix campaigner joins crowded field of Laois independent candidates

Abbeyleix man Noel Burke has announced his candidacy for the upcoming local elections in a bid to win a seat on Laois County Council in an every growing field of independents.

Mr Burke has decided to contest for one of the Portlaoise Municipal District seats up for grabs in the June 7 poll.

In a statement, Mr Burke describes himself as a well-known community activist and local historian. He says  he worked as a prison officer in Portlaoise for 30 years and says he has been very active in the local community since he retired in 2008.

Born and raised in Abbeyleix, he says he has always been interested in history but particularly local history, regularly documenting and recording historical events in his area as well as talking and listening to the older generation, as they tell their stories from Laois towns and villages.

He says he has published two books titled, The Stories I Was Told and Granddad, Tell Us Another Story and is currently working on a third, which he hopes will be published next Christmas. He says these not-for-profit books filled with local history, stories and folklore have made it to 27 different countries.

Mr Burke says he has always been interested in sports ranging from hurling to rugby and golf, he was captain of Abbeyleix Golf Club in 2018 and continues to enjoy playing.

Before his retirement, he says he volunteered and organised a variety of charitable events in Abbeyleix and Portlaoise, including fundraisers for FirstLight, formerly known as the Irish Sudden Infant Death Association and for the Irish Wheelchair Association.

He is now chairman of the Abbeyleix Tonduff Cillín project which organised a memorial for unbaptised babies buried at Tonduff, which was supported by Creative Ireland and Laois County Council. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Pictured: Fr Petru Medves and Fr Paddy Byrne PP with committee members Noel Burke, Jim Ring and James Carroll at the special mass at Tonduff Cillín burial site for unbaptized babies. Picture: Alf Harvey.

He is also chairman of the Clonkeen conservation project, which is ensuring the protection and maintenance of the medieval church and graveyard on the border between Abbeyleix and Ballinakill. The project secured a grant of €22,000 in 2023 and €120,000 this year from the National Monuments Fund.

“If elected, I will apply myself even more to other areas within the county and will continue to work tirelessly on local projects in and outside my own town of Abbeyleix, to benefit everyone in the community,” he says.

He describes himself as a relentless advocate for the people of his community and surrounding districts and says that “preserving the past for the future” is his passion.

There are seven Portlaoise Municipal District seats on Laois County Council. The electoral area is dominated by the county town but also includes Abbeyleix, Ballyroan and Ballinakill.