‘If I can be mayor, anyone can’ – Francis Timmons on surviving institutional care and leading South Dublin County Council
The new mayor of South Dublin County Council (SDCC) has said he never imagined that, after growing up in one of Ireland’s institutions and experiencing abuse, he would one day become the first citizen of the county.
Speaking after his election at the council’s annual general meeting last month, Independent councillor Francis Timmons reflected on his life in Dublin’s Madonna House.
“When I was younger, I lived in an institution, and I grew up as a gay man, pre-decriminalisation, so at that time I never thought in my wildest dreams that I could be the mayor of South Dublin County Council. I didn’t even think I would become a councillor,” he said.
“I suppose there’s a message in that, that if I can be the mayor, anyone can as well.
“I don’t speak for every survivor of the church and state, but I know that lots of survivors will be very proud that somebody who survived is now the first citizen of south Dublin.”
The Clondalkin councillor explained that he entered institutional care because his mother was unmarried.
“You’re talking about a very different Ireland in the early 1970s, where it was viewed as shockingly immoral to be an unmarried mother,” he said.
As an infant, he lived at Madonna House in Blackrock, then run by the Sisters of Charity. During his time there, he was among children involved in vaccine trials that have since become the subject of public controversy.
“I ended up in Madonna House out in Blackrock, and that was traumatic, to say the least,” Mr Timmons said. “While I was there, I was used in the vaccine trial where they experimented on children.”
The 55-year-old councillor was able to reconnect with his birth mother before her death.
“I’m very lucky. I met my mother, and I was with her when she died in 2014. A lot of survivors of church and state don’t have that,” he added.
He also paid tribute to the late Christine Buckley, whose landmark 1996 RTÉ documentary Dear Daughter exposed widespread abuse within Irish institutions and encouraged other survivors to come forward.
“Christine led the way in being able to speak up and tell our truth because for a long time, many of us feared nobody would believe us,” he said.
Christine Buckley at a silent march in solidarity with survivors of sexual abuse on Molesworth Street, Dublin, in 2009
Mr Timmons also spoke about growing up as a gay man in Ireland before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, adding that his husband Darren Lamont “changed” his life.
“My life really didn’t begin until the age of 28 when I met Darren. Other than that, I don’t even think I’d be alive right now, to be honest with you, because I was drinking a lot to drown out everything I’d been through,” he said.
“When I met Darren, my whole life changed that day. We’ve been together for 28 years now. When I told him there was a chance I’d be elected mayor, he was very supportive.
“I struggled when I was 10 years old. I realised that I was different but didn’t understand what that meant because there was no talk about being gay.
“All you heard was that it was an awful thing. I was brought up very Catholic under a very strict regime in Ireland when people looked down on unmarried mothers and LGBT+ people.”
Darren Lamont and Francis Timmons on their wedding day
The new mayor, who was first elected to the council in 2014, said he wants to focus on building a “more inclusive” South Dublin – particularly for people with disabilities and those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Among his priorities are promoting Fairtrade initiatives and organising inclusion conferences.
“We’ve created a society where people with disabilities haven’t always been treated equally. What I’d like to see during my year as mayor is that we become a more inclusive society, particularly for people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental health issues,” he said.
Having spent several years managing a homeless hostel, Mr Timmons said housing remains the county’s most pressing challenge.
“If you don’t have a house or somewhere to put your head down at the end of the day, nothing else really matters. You have nowhere to sleep and nowhere for your children to do their homework or bring their friends,” he said.
Last month, the councillor voted against plans to rezone the controversial St Edmundsbury lands near Lucan from their current high-amenity zoning to residential.
“Something doesn’t get a high-amenity zoning unless it’s high -amenity. We need green spaces and we need housing, but a high-amenity zone, to me, can’t be built on.”
Meanwhile, Mr Timmons also defended SDCC’s recent decision to increase social housing rents, saying “hardship clauses” had been included for tenants experiencing financial difficulties.
“As much as people don’t want a rent increase, I don’t think it was overly unfair. Yes, we have a cost-of-living crisis, but the council also has to ensure it has the resources to provide services across the county.”