LETTERKENNY barber Gerry McKeever has released a bold new book which bids to galvanise people for the formation of a new party with a fresh vision for democracy in Ireland.
‘Saving Democracy: A Proactive Plan’ is the second book to be penned by the well-known barber, who, in November 2024, ran as an independent candidate in the General Election, with housing, infrastructure and the fisheries policy central to his manifesto.
While it was the first political outing for the local barber, who was raised on the Market Square, for more than 40 years Gerry has been quietly listening to stories shared in his barber shop on the town’s Main Street.
Stories of family life and sport have all featured within the walls of Gerry’s Barbers over the decades, but it was during the Covid-19 pandemic Gerry first put pen to paper on a book about politics, ‘Benocracy – Democracy’s Last Change’ which, he reflected, had been stirring for more than a decade.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Gerry said his latest book is a concept about how ordinary people can instigate real democratic change.
“There is so much wrong in this country, in every democracy. Our cost of living crisis is crazy, the immigration system is not working, our free speech is being challenged and the HSE is not right.
“The book examines the necessary ingredients, I believe, we need to get a new party going. Firstly, we need to find the people who would run, how to bring finances on stream and we also need jeopardy, which I think is already here. We can see this in the mess the HSE and An Garda Síochána are in, as well as the challenge to free speech.
“I’d say, on average, people spend at least 10 hours a week talking about politics and how bad things are. What I am asking people to do is to take an hour and a half to read this book about how a new idea might work.”
The book outlines the manifesto of a potential new democratic party.
“We have 28 billion euro sitting in surplus at the moment. The government plans to spend 10 billion on a metro line between Dublin and the airport, the cost of which will probably rise to 16 billion. Instead, we need to spend money on our electricity grid, on our water infrastructure especially fixing all our leaks and repairing our sewerage system. If we had these three vital piece of infrastructure then we could build 100,000 houses a year. If planning permission was freed up we could build on more sites because the infrastructure would be there, and we could allow people to build what they can afford. For example, a 1200 sq ft modular house could be built for €130,000 on a site for €40,000 which would see a mortgage of around €850 a month for 20 years instead of paying double that in rent for a house that you’ll never own.
“We can bring people back from Australia to do this, we can keep them here, generate taxes and keep the economy going. Economies fail when the monies stop rolling.
“Due to the way the country is currently being run, parents have seen their grown up children emigrate to Australia and now have to watch their grandchildren grow up via Skype.
“Housing, the cost of living, and the HSE are all local issues but until they are fixed nationally they won’t be fixed locally.”
Gerry said he believes if enough people got behind the move, a new party could potentially be formed in the next eight to 10 months.
“If two candidates stand in every constituency, that’s 86 candidates. If we had those numbers, I believe people would demand an election. Instead of waiting four years, we could have an election in a year’s time. That’s a very idealistic vision but I think we have to aim for that.
STREETS OF LETTERKENNY
“My message is that national is local. You’re not going to fix the fact that people won’t walk the streets of Letterkenny at night time until you fix gardaí at national level. Letterkenny hospital won’t be fixed unless the HSE is fixed. The big picture matters here.”
Asked if he would enter the political arena again, Gerry said he believes a new party needs people who are the “cornerstone of society”.
“As Billy Connolly once said, ‘anyone who wants to be a politician should be barred from being a politician’. We need people who are the cornerstone of society, people locally like Alfie Greene in Letterkenny who helps charities. I am thinking of people like that who treasure integrity.
“I make the point in my book that we are not outnumbered, we are out organised. There’s a saying that for every one person hacking at the root, there’s a thousand people hacking at the branches. I think we all need to start hacking at the root. The last thing the government wants is for a really good idea to come out and for everyone to start working together.”
‘Saving Democracy: A Proactive Plan’ is self published and is available to be purchased from local bookshops, Gerry’s Barbers and Amazon.
