Labour in West in serious trouble

Saturday August 04, 2007 15:13

by M K Ryan

Clr Keavney Resigns from Labour

Labour in the West of Ireland appears to be in serious trouble. The latest high profile member to resign from the party is the sole Labour councillor on Galway County Council, Clr Colm Keavney. Taking into consideration the resignations in Leitrim, Sligo and Galway City in the recent past it looks like the Labour Party West of the Shannon is in meltdown.

The current issue of the Tuam Herald says:

TUAM-based councillor Colm Keaveney who stood for the Labour Party in the Galway East constituency in the recent general election has resigned from the party.

Cllr. Keaveney said he was considering his options regarding joining another party or sitting as an independent member of Galway Co Council. Cllr Keaveney told The Herald that he had serious issues with party management policy and had threatened to resign unless these can be resolved. They were not, so he resigned last week. His main bone of contention with the party is the proposal to end the post of Regional Development Office, a post currently held by John Feeley of Leitrim.

Cllr Keaveney said that he became very concerned over this proposal as it would indicate a ‘centralisation’ of the organisation and a move away from nurturing constituencies such as Galway East which were the obvious location of future seat gains for Labour.

He also questioned the party’s commitment to rural Ireland and the West of the country in particular. “If the party was to make a breakthrough in electoral terms I feel it should not ignore areas where Labour don’t have seats because these are the areas of potential gain,” he said. He also expressed reservations over the current leadership of the party.