Michael Ring talks of the dangers of social media as he reflects on a 45 year career in politics
He has left the political stage after 45 years but Michael Ring still has his finger on the pulse of the nation.
The former Westport based Fine Gael minister says he has adjusted to the pace of retirement. Sitting in his old constituency office in Westport, he reflected on his party, the upcoming Presidential election, the dangers of social media, and the future of Mayo.
“Life and pace have calmed down a good bit, you know, I’d have been working seven days a week,” he said, recalling how his days before retirement would start at six or seven in the morning and continue until 11 or 12 that night.
The forced slowdown of the COVID-19 lockdown made the transition into retirement easier he admitted: “That really helped me, because I would’ve found it a difficult change. It kind of settled everybody down.”
Despite finding it difficult and describing the lockdown as a “lonely time”, it offered Mr Ring a chance to adjust to a quieter routine - an adjustment he had been worried about. With encouragement from his family and some internal pressure, he felt the moment to retire had come.
Mr Ring was grateful he was able to retire in good health, and even more grateful when the opportunity to pass the baton to Fine Gael’s Keira Keogh arose: “Keira came along and I saw she had great potential, she’s doing a fantastic job. I really think she could be a minister in the future.”
While he has stepped away from frontline politics, Mr Ring is far from slowing down completely. He now serves on the board of directors for the League of Ireland and sits on Mayo’s education board.
He is enjoying keeping busy in a different way than before: “I’m walking now, I’m fitter now than I ever was. I’m enjoying it, I have no regrets,” he said and admits that retaining the seat in Westport made the transition easier.
The advice I would give them is to stay on the ground working with people and listening to people
In the past, Mr Ring has been vocal about the dangers of social media and the rise of misinformation: “At world level, at European level, at national level - if governments don’t do something about social media, and now with AI coming in, in the future we won’t know what’s the truth.”
He worries that the decline of traditional journalism has left a space for an unchecked media to grow: “That’s why we need national papers, that’s why we need local papers, or no one will know the difference between the truth and the lies.”
“It’s the hurt and mistrust that it is causing,” he said, “Misinformation goes up online, and the next thing, anything can happen, you can have people on the streets. It’s very dangerous. People’s reputations are being destroyed by social media, and it’s not fair.”
For Mr Ring, it isn’t social media itself, it’s the lack of control and accountability that exists on the platforms: “Social media is a good thing, but it has to be used properly. I’ll put it very simply; an uncontrolled media is dangerous, and that’s what we have here.”
When asked what sort of policy he would implement to curb the spread of hate or misinformation online, Mr Ring argued for stricter and faster consequences for those spreading false or defamatory content.
“If somebody puts misinformation [out there], it should then be very easy to have them in the courts next week. There has to be some sort of a court set up, [so] that people are able to get justice if something not right is put up on social media about them.”
In addition to his worry over the spread of misinformation on social media, Mr Ring has previously voiced how precious and important democracy is.
“In this country, we’ve had just over 100 years of democracy. One thing we have had since the foundation of the state, whoever came into government, they were supported. Whoever won that election was the democratically elected government,
“You can only have one government. I’m very worried where you see now that other organisations [are] setting up a council, setting up a Dáil, and these are extreme groups. We have to monitor this very carefully. Let’s call a spade a spade, there has never been such unrest in the world. I actually blame a lot of it on social media.”
I’ll put it very simply; an uncontrolled media is dangerous
Despite his concerns, Mr Ring remains hopeful that politics offers the only way forward: “When you have a problem, and we have had problems in this country, we have always dealt with them through the political institutions. Of course, governments have made mistakes, governments have responded to issues that they’ve created, and they’ve dealt with them,
"Everything has to be done through dialogue, particularly in politics. We have a democracy, and it’s important to protect.”
Presidential race and Fine Gael's future
When asked if he had considered a run for the Áras, he was firm in his response: “No, we have plenty of fine candidates.” He was sorry that Mairead McGuinness wouldn’t be in the race, describing Ms McGuinness as an ideal candidate, but promised to give his support to Heather Humphreys.
“This will be my last hurrah now and I’ve given her my commitment that I’m going to give her a bit of help around the country.”
Reflecting on Fine Gael’s leadership, Mr Ring was supportive: “I left the party on a good note, I have a lot of good friends in Fine Gael, I’d like the party to continue to do well. I think it’s important for democracy that we have a strong Fine Gael and a strong Fianna Fáil. I think it’s good for the country.”
When asked what advice he would give the party, Mr Ring turned his focus to individual politicians rather than party strategy: “You see people talk about the party, but it’s members of the party that control the party. The advice I would give them is to stay on the ground working with people and listening to people.”
Mayo's economic pillars: multinationals, local business and tourism
Mr Ring’s pride for Westport and Mayo are undeniable. He believes the three greatest strengths of the county are: the multinational companies, local businesses and tourism. He stressed all three must be supported for Mayo to grow.
“We must support businesses, we must support people who are out there taking risks, we must support industries,” he said, “Because if they are creating jobs and creating wealth, then everybody is doing well.”
Mayo’s multinationals, including pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, remain central to employment. Mr Ring recalls turning the sod when AbbVie first arrived in Westport and says the company has grown alongside the town. He was clear that Mayo is lucky to have them and admitted that if AbbVie were to go overnight, it would cause huge damage.
Government support, he argued, will always be essential to ensure these employers can survive unstable global markets and surprise tariffs: “If these companies are struggling at the moment, they’ll need a bit of help from the Government, and this is in the Government’s interest.”
Alongside the multinational companies, Mr Ring noted that local businesses deserve equal recognition: “Don’t forget the local companies as well, they have done a great job, Portwest, McHale’s, all these companies. They are out there trading as well and doing very well all over the world. We are lucky to have them.”
Then there is tourism, which he sees as perhaps Mayo’s greatest strength. Mr Ring sees it not only as an industry, but as a foundation of community life. He recalls decades of families in Westport whose children were able to work in hotels, restaurants, and guesthouses, often using summer earnings to fund their education: “We are very lucky, other towns don’t have that.”
He sees tourism expanding in Mayo over the next decade. The Wild Atlantic Way, which he launched during his time as Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, remains a source of pride: “It really opened up all these places, people are beginning to discover Mayo, discover Erris, it’s a hidden gem down there.”
He believes projects like the Western Rail Corridor could play the same transformative role for tourism in the county, and has high hopes for it being included in the next National Development Plan. “It makes economic sense,” he said, pointing out that the potential to restore rail links between Mayo, Galway and beyond would boost regional development and connectivity.
You have to bring power back to the people again. Local democracy has been taken away, and it needs to be brought back.
Economic development and tourism growth are one part of Mayo’s future, Mr Ring sees local democracy as the other. He described the abolishment of town councils as one of the most significant setbacks to local democracy.
“I’d love to see the Government bringing back the town councils. For a town like Westport, they had a town council there, we had our own budget, we had our own team and workers on the ground, we kept the town in good shape.”
He believes that the abolition of town councils stripped away vital layers of accountability and responsiveness: “It wasn’t better local government, it was bitter local government,” he said.
For Mr Ring, the solution lies in restoring power to local representatives and communities: “You have to bring power back to the people again. Local democracy has been taken away, and it needs to be brought back.”
He also highlighted the vital role of volunteers within a local democracy: “We are so lucky in this country that we have Tidy Towns, they don’t get the credit that they deserve.”
Reflection on the past and a note for the future
Looking back on his long career, Mr Ring says his proudest personal moments were being elected to the Dáil and serving in Cabinet. When asked about his greatest achievement, he didn’t hesitate: “The greatest achievement was setting up the Department of Rural and Community Development.”
He founded the department in 2017, and it has since helped to transform rural Ireland. He spoke of the vital schemes that the department initiated, like the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and the Rural Regeneration Fund: “That department should never be let go, I was proud to set up that department.”
As for advice to the next generation of politicians, Mr Ring returned to a message he has raised on multiple occasions: politics is about people. His advice to the next generation of politicians is simple but firm: “It’s face-to-face, not Facebook. If they’re going to be controlled by social media, they won’t survive in this game.”
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.