Independent politicians in Donegal appear underwhelmed by Ireland’s newest political party, which vows to disrupt the establishment.
Independent Ireland was officially registered last November, founded by Cork South West TD Michael Collins and Limerick County TD Richard O’Donoghue. Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice has just become the party’s third Teachta Dála.
Donegal’s sole Independent TD, Thomas Pringle, confirmed to Donegal News that he has not been contacted by Independent Ireland and appears less than excited about the prospect.
“I would be very disappointed if they did contact me. It would call into question my contribution in Dáil Éireann if they thought I might possibly be interested.
“They have nothing to offer, in my opinion, because political parties only act as a buffer between public representatives and the people who elected them.
“I was in Sinn Féin for three years and that showed me how political parties create more problems than they solve. Political parties are just a mechanism to manipulate the public for their own benefit,” claims Deputy Pringle.
Independent Ireland’s leader, Deputy Michael Collins, claims the party aims to offer an alternative to voters dissatisfied with the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party coalition, yet hesitant to support Sinn Féin. Collins and O’Donoghue were previously part of the Rural Independents Group before establishing the party.
They say that the party is open to existing TDs and are currently in discussions with approximately 25 councillors nationwide who may consider running for the party in local and European elections later this year.
Independent Donegal Councillor John O’Donnell, attached to the Letterkenny Municipal District, confirmed that he has not been approached by Independent Ireland. Similar to Deputy Pringle, he is not enthusiastic.
“At a local level you don’t need to be aligning yourself with a big political grouping. I can see the reasoning behind it at a national level, to form part of a government or something, but at a local level it doesn’t make much sense,” said Cllr O’Donnell.
The new party might improve its chances by reaching out to Independent Cllr Nicholas Crossan, who leads a coalition of seven Independent councillors within Donegal County Council. The group includes Michael McClafferty, Kevin Bradley, John O’Donnell, Tom Connaghan, Pauric McGarvey, and Niamh Kennedy.
Furthermore, Cllr Crossan is founder and current Chairperson of Independents Together, a coalition comprising 80 Independent councillors from across the country.
“I’ve had no contact from the new party, Independent Ireland, and neither have any of those who I represent within the council, but I suppose it’s early days,” said Cllr Crossan.
The Buncrana-based councillor is not ruling out the possibility of negotiating with Independent Ireland, but he believes the onus is on them to initiate contact with him, rather than the other way around.
“If approached I’ll speak to anybody. If it was of benefit, and I got the okay from my group, we could then decide if it’s a good idea or not.
“We’re national. They should at least be talking to county councillors, nationally, and I have the biggest group. They should want to talk to us.
“We have a solid group of 80 and from that we managed to get three Independent senators elected; Victor Boyhan, Gerard Craughwell and Sharon Keogan.
“We don’t have a policy. We don’t have a whip. I keep saying within our group that the policy is not to have a policy because what affects me in Donegal is totally different to somebody in Cork,” concluded Cllr Crossan.
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