Tipperary Labour councillor opposes his party's support for Connolly in presidential race

South Tipperary Labour councillor Michael ‘Chicken’ Brennan has joined Tipperary North Labour TD Alan Kelly in declaring he won’t be supporting Independent TD Catherine Connolly’s candidacy in the Presidential election.

The Killenaule man, who is south Tipperary’s only Labour public representative, said he believed the Labour Party made a mistake in endorsing the Galway TD and he won’t be canvassing for her in the election campaign.

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Cllr Brennan said he and fellow Labour public representatives who feel the same way will be voicing their views to the party’s leadership at its annual Think-In gathering at the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh this Thursday and Friday.

“I have made it clear, I won’t be supporting her. I am looking to see who in the rest of the field would be suitable.”

Cllr Brennan agreed with Alan Kelly that there was a large cohort of people within Labour against the party’s support for Ms Connolly and he had received that feedback from Labour party members and supporters he met in south Tipperary over the past week.

He felt Ms Connolly had “shouted down” Labour since she left the party in 2007 but she now wanted the party’s support.

He echoed the concerns expressed by Mr Kelly last week over Ms Connolly’s support for nominating the controversial Gemma O’Doherty as a presidential candidate in 2018 and her views and comments on international affairs matters.

Cllr Brennan said he felt Labour perhaps “jumped on the bandwagon too soon” in joining other left wing parties in supporting Ms Connolly’s candidacy.

While he said the Think-In will be an opportunity for Labour members unhappy with the party’s endorsement of Connolly to “clear the air” with the leadership, he hoped the gathering will focus more on the main issues they are facing on the ground such as housing and the high cost of living.

“I feel that after Labour had such great local elections and a good general election and without having our own presidential candidate, this election is a distraction for the party.”

The Labour Party has responded to criticisms of its endorsement of Ms Connolly by stating that at the end of July, after an extensive consultation with party members, the Parliamentary Labour Party and Executive Board democratically decided to endorse the Catherine Connolly campaign for president, as recommended by the majority of members."

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