*Matthew Moroney (IND). Photograph: John Mangan
A GENERAL ELECTION candidate has claimed he was subject to bullying while a member of Fianna Fáil and said democratic processes are lacking in Independent Ireland.
Broadford native Matthew Moroney (IND) resigned as a member of Fianna Fáil in March of this year after he was not selected to contest the local elections following an appeal.
In June, he ran as a candidate for Independent Ireland where he was the nearest challenger to the five elected councillors in the Killaloe Municipal District, the same five have been returned for three elections in a row.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Matthew admitted running for Independent Ireland in the General Election was never on the cards. “It wasn’t an option, for the simple reason and I have to be honest about this, there was no democratic process in electing or selecting the candidate in the Independent Ireland. I joined Independent Ireland because it was new, it started new, I’ve great time for Michael Fitzmaurice the way he comes at things with a simplified approach, he is very clear of what he wants to get out here and I liked that.
“I suppose after the local elections, there hadn’t been much contact from anybody in Independent Ireland, we were then told they had their candidate picked and that was it, they said the candidate they picked didn’t want any other candidate running with them, whether you wanted to go with them or not you didn’t get an option, I had seen that kind of things in Fianna Fáil, that is why I left Fianna Fáil, when I ran for convention that time, I saw a lot of things that happen inwardly in parties and they’re not nice and people suffer, and people’s mental health suffers all the things like this. I also felt on the other side of it, Independent Ireland don’t offer any funding for us, they’re not established long enough so I felt I was better selling my own brand with my own money than selling someone else’ brand with my own money”.
He said his main differences with Independent Ireland are regarding their selection processes. “There was no democracy for the selection process, and that’s the only issue that I had. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t picked for it, that wasn’t the issue. It was the way it was done was the issue for me”.
Moroney stressed that there is no bad blood between him and Eddie Punch (II). “Eddie is a fierce nice guy, I’ve spoken to him a few times since, you know, and there’s no bad blood whatsoever, and I wish Eddie the best of luck. I hope he is one of the candidates that gets there”.
Reflecting on his time in Fianna Fáil, Matthew said lack of communication was another issue. “They left me a long time right after the convention, which was fast tracked to June, they left me a long time, until a few days before Christmas before they actually gave me an answer. They were in my eyes, I won’t say not taking it serious enough but they were kicking the can down the road. I had my mind made up at that stage that I was gone but I still had to wait for the deciding answer because I did go for an appeal, and I had to wait for the results of the appeal one way or the other, if they turned around and said ‘Matt we’re still going to run you’ I still would have refused because I had my mind made up, I had seen some things in the party, I saw some things against female members on the ground and I was not happy with that, I think we all know what it is and I won’t name names but I couldn’t stand for it”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, he said he both saw and heard what happened. Subsequent to this, “I sent various emails to party headquarters, I sent emails to a politician up the country who was involved in headquarters but there was nothing done about it”.
He is critical of Fianna Fáil at both a local and national level. “I have to be honest here. Fianna Fáil in Clare including its councillors and TDs were aware of the situation and it hasn’t been resolved to date, it involves myself and other people, you get a generic email reply that they will look into it but that is it”.
Moroney added, “I won’t say threats, a certain amount of bullying which in my view in this day and age is not acceptable, it definitely should not be acceptable in a party and to someone who put their name forward or who is on the ground doing voluntary work for them. There was a bit of everything as well, that it’s in the past, and Fianna Fáil is in the past to me, I’m looking forward, I suppose if your past keeps being brought in front of you, you can never go forward and this is what I want. I want to go forward, do the best I can. And if I don’t get it done, I have no problem standing aside and saying I failed and let the next person come in and let them have a go. If I can’t deliver on a couple of key areas for the county, then I wil stand back and say I have failed and the best of luck to the next person, I’ll row in behind them to help them too, I can’t give any more security than that”.
