*Cathal Crowe and Matt Moroney.
MATT MORONEY (IND IRE) has been confirmed as Independent Ireland’s first-ever candidate in Clare.
Broadford native Moroney has tendered his resignation from Fianna Fáil to contest the local elections for the new party founded by rural TDs Michael Collins (IND IRE), Richard O’Donoghue (IND IRE) and Michael Fitzmaurice (IND IRE).
Last June, Matt contested the selection convention for Fianna Fáil as they opted to go with the sitting trio of Cllr Pat Hayes (FF), Cllr Alan O’Callaghan (FF) and Cllr Tony O’Brien (FF). Efforts to get added to the party ticket subsequent to this via party headquarters were unsuccessful despite additions of further candidates in the Ennis Municipal District and Shannon Municipal District where there had also been contests.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Matt explained, “Since the convention I was weighing up my options, I like the simple approach that comes with this party, the three lads who set it up are straight forward, they really want to make change and you know that from talking to them. There is no whip system in the party which allows candidates to remain fully independent on the issues that matter to them or they want to solve without a party dictating that you can do this or do that”.
Fianna Fáil did not want him as a representative, Matt felt. “Since day one and I announced I was contesting the convention I wasn’t wanted, the run-up to the convention and after convention there was a process called the NCC process to get added to the ticket, I knew it wasn’t going to happen and there was some political interference which didn’t help the situation. They didn’t want another candidate in the area which was clear, I thought it was unfair that the choice was taken from the people who wanted change and they are not happy with the way current things are, it was time to walk away then because it was no longer a party I could stand for”.
On the “political interference,” he said, “It was probably politicians (not officers) and I don’t want to elaborate much into it, it is fairly clear from the public who has been behind the interference, it is in the past”.
Although he has tendered his resignation as a party member with Fianna Fáil, he has yet to receive a response from party headquarters.
Last month, Moroney had called for the Chairman of the Fianna Fáil Comhairle Dáil Ceantair in Clare, Mike Enright (FF) to step down over his comments towards the party’s only TD in Clare, Cathal Crowe (FF), “I think maybe it might be no harm if he went to Mothercare and got a soother it might help him a small bit,” Enright had said.
Matt admitted that if even a change in personnel may not have made him stay with the party. “To be honest it is hard to know, the organisation has gone stale in Co Clare, we’ve had no AGMs, any time a meeting has been looked for it has been ignored, it’s hard to stay in an organisation which won’t listen to its grassroots members, that’s why I decided to get out because it is going nowhere as a party and I’ve no ill-feeling towards it”.
A sucker farmer who works in the Arrabawn Co-op in Bridgetown, Matt said his initial aspiration to be a strong voice for Broadford on the Council remains. “That is still a main priority but also for the entire Killaloe MD, we can lose sight of things and see that there are bigger things happening in the area but lose sight of the small things ging on, a lot of the bigger things are coming from higher bodies than Clare County Council. I want to go to back to basics, listen to people on the ground and see what their issues are and solve them. I want councillors and TDs to hold monthly clinics to meet the people and have the answers before they meet them, we can’t hold our elected reps to account because we can’t get through to them”.
It won’t be his first time going up against Hayes, O’Callaghan and O’Brien and Matt is hopeful the bigger demographic as opposed to solely Fianna Fáil members can lead to a change in his fortunes. “The feedback I’m getting from people is very positive, if you look at the Independent Ireland website and the amount of people who have joined since the referenda, they’ve had enough and are seeking change at local and national level”.
He continued, “I am not directly pinpointing at the Killaloe local electoral area or taking a pop at them, I know they do some great work and people are looking that they want change from the ground up, that is the feeling on the ground, it boils over from a national level down to a local level rather than from a local level up”.
Having been three days on a trolley at University Hospital Limerick, Matt said he would be fighting for the reopening of the emergency department at Ennis Hospital. “I’ve been talking to staff and things are very bad, it is something we need not just from East Clare but for all of Clare. I collapsed in Ennis, I was two minutes away from Ennis Hospital but I still had to be brought into UHL by ambulance, I’ve been waiting for tests and it is no wonder the place is overcrowded”.
