Tipperary South Labour candidate vows he will be back to contest another General Election

Caption for photo above: Labour Party candidate Cllr Michael ‘Chicken’ Brennan (second from right) with from left his brother and sister-in-law Pat and Helen Brennan, James Simpson, his Director of Elections Billy Healy and far right Cllr Brennan’s wife Helen. Picture: Marty Ryan

Tipperary South Labour candidate Cllr Michael “Chicken” Brennan says he has learned a lot from his first ever General Election campaign and will now focus on his work as a councillor and the task of rejuvenating the Labour Party in south Tipperary.

He has indicated he is willing to run in a General Election again for Labour if the opportunity arose.

The Killenaule man, polled 1,731 first preference votes in the election and was eliminated after the second count on Sunday morning having reached 1,970 votes.

He said he was disappointed not to break the 3,000 first preference vote mark and be in contention for the final seat.

But he wasn’t sorry he contested the election and acknowledged his profile isn’t yet high enough among voters outside Carrick-on-Suir Local Electoral Area.

Cllr Brennan thanked all who voted for him and rallied around and helped him with the campaign and pledged: “We will be back”.

He particularly thanked all those in his home town for their loyal support.

While Cllr Brennan had set his sights on being in contention for the final seat in the constituency; in reality he admitted it was a big ask.

He is still a newcomer to south Tipperary’s political landscape and only ran for elected office for the first time in the Tipperary County Council elections in June.

Winning a council seat in the Carrick-on-Suir LEA following an energetic and very visible campaign was a significant achievement both personally and for his party.

His election effectively resurrected Labour from political obscurity in south Tipperary.

The party hadn’t held a council seat in this part of the county since 2014. Labour’s last south Tipperary based Oireachtas member was Denis Landy from Carrick-on-Suir who resigned from the Seanad on health grounds in November 2017 while the party’s last south Tipperary TD was Michael Ferris, who died while still in office in 2000.

Cllr Brennan said once he and his campaign team went further out in the constituency from his electoral heartland they found he lacked a profile among voters.

He said he and his team weren’t experienced at running a General Election campaign and looking back there are things he would have done differently.

He said he had learned a lot from the experience and vowed to be ready for the next General Election campaign.

“I am learning all the time and learning fast. It’s a cut throat business to be in. We will dust ourselves off and I will be back working as a councillor this week.”

Cllr Brennan is looking forward to continuing serving his “apprenticeship” as a councillor.

One of his priorities over the next few years will be to continue the rejuvenation of the Labour Party organisation in south Tipperary.

During the canvas, he said he met a lot of people who voted Labour in previous elections but hadn’t in recent years because there weren’t any local candidates running.

There are currently Labour groups in Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir, Killenaule and some members in Clonmel.

Cllr Brennan wants to bring these groups under a single South Tipperary Labour branch, recruit new members and hopefully run more candidate in the next Local Elections in 2029.