Tipperary political era comes to an end as Cllr Hanafin will not contest local elections

Long-serving Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus Hanafin has revealed that he will not stand in next year’s local elections.

Cllr Hanafin, former Cathaoirleach of Thurles Municipal District Council, has served on five councils since he was co-opted on to the former North Tipperary County Council in 2003. He held on to his seat in the 2004 elections, topping the poll.

Cllr Hanafin, who runs Hanafin Furniture and Floor Coverings Stores in Stradavoher, said that he had not allowed his name to go forward at the Fianna Fáil selection convention.

Only two names were put forward, that of sitting councillor Sean Ryan and Kay Cahill Skehan, sister of Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill.

“I have been elected four times and after 20 years I have decided it is time to move on and do something else,” he told The Tipperary Star.

Cllr Hanafin’s decision not to run breaks an almost endless line of the Hanafin name appearing on a ballot paper in the Thurles District since the 1950s. The one exception was in 1974 when his uncle Des, did not appear as a Fianna Fáil candidate.

A consistent vote-catcher whose vote in 2019 never fluctuated much from the vote he first got in 2004, Cllr Hanafin said that he had enjoyed his time on the council and met a lot of “great people”.

“I enjoyed it. It was a great experience,” he said.

Cllr Hanafin did not forget those who supported and elected him to the council saying: “ I am grateful to the people who voted and supported me over the years.”

Among the highlights of his political career was being elected Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council in 2015.

However, he said that he was equally proud to have been involved in the local enterprise centre, and to have chaired Thurles Centre of Independent Living since 2008.

He also believed that Thurles had improved as a town over the past 20 years, citing the revamped Liberty Square as an example.

However, he pointed out that the work of the council was “complex and slow”.

With the amalgamation of north and south Tipperary into one council area in 2014, Cllr Hanafin remarked that while the move had led to a “stronger county council”, the abolition of town councils had been “bad for local democracy”.

He said that the work was now harder and there was a bigger mix. However, it was Covid-19 that “put a bit of a distance” between councillors and council officials.

Cllr Hanafin now plans to spend more time with his family.

Leading the tributes to Cllr Hanafin, Deputy Cahill said: “Seamus Hanafin has been an outstanding public representative for Thurles for over 20 years, continuing a proud family tradition stretching back over 70 years in the area. His aunt Binkie, uncle Des and cousin John also served the people of Thurles with distinction.

“Seamus will be a tremendous loss to the area. His expertise and astuteness for constituent’s representations will be missed.”
Despite standing down, Deputy Cahill said that he was delighted that Cllr Hanafin will continue to play a full role in Fianna Fáil in Tipperary, “and I know that his business is going from strength to strength”.

“While he is retiring from public representation, I am certain that Seamus will continue to be very active within his community and he will contribute to Thurles and the surrounding areas, just as he and his family have done for generations,” he said.

Deputy Cahill said that one of his proudest moments as a public representative was having the honour to propose Cllr Hanafin as Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council in 2015.

“His year as Cathaoirleach of Tipperary typified who Seamus is as a public representative, as he represented and promoted Tipperary, not just nationally but also internationally with vigour and determination,” he said.