Sligo councillor fumes at decision of colleagues not to support Gareth Sheridan nomination for President

By Philip Rooney, The Sligo Champion

Following Monday’s meeting of Sligo County Council where the decision was taken not to nominate a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, independent Councillor Michael Clarke has launched a strong attack on both the local authority and his fellow councillors.

In a video posted online, Cllr Clarke spoke about the events at the meeting saying he had proposed Gareth Sheridan but as Mr Sheridan was not present he could not receive the backing of the Council.

“I proposed that Gareth Sheridan would be considered. He has two nominations (from other local authorities) and I believe that the people need choice. Sligo County Council, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael put so many restrictions because there was 12 meetings today all over the country. People couldn’t attend so we had only person attending. Gareth Sheridan wasn’t able to attend along with all the other people."

Cllr Clarke expressed the belief that it was in the interest of democracy that he was nominating Gareth Sheridan, stating that he may not have voted for Mr Sheridan but still felt it was important his name was on the ballot paper.

“Sligo County Council put extra conditions on the nomination process,” stated Cllr Clarke. “First of all, you had to attend in person. You couldn’t present online even though members of the Council could present online so that excluded anyone who wasn’t able to attend. The legislation is very clear, those conditions are not in the legislation.

"The members of Sligo County Council, controlled by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael put those extra conditions into it. The Council, Fianna Fáil Chairman and Fine Gael and indeed the Left all nodded in agreement that nobody should be nominated by Sligo County Council.

"Democracy now is suffering very badly in my view, I think people should be given the choice. I might never even vote or Gareth Sheridan but because two other Councils nominated him I think he should get the opportunity to be on the ballot paper and let the people decide. Democracy is a big loser today.”

Questioning the legality of how matters unfolded in County Hall, Cllr Clarke remarked, “I’m not sure if what they did in Sligo County Council was legal or not today but this is what democracy is coming to in Ireland. It is a dictatorship from Dublin and the fools of councillors that have no say are happy to toddle along and be there.”