Michael 'Chicken' Brennan is Labour's first south Tipperary councillor in a decade

The election of first time Labour candidate Michael “Chicken” Brennan was the big upset of the Carrick-on-Suir Local Electoral Area race and he secured enough votes to take the third seat in the five-seat constituency.

The Killenaule man was elected after the second count early on Sunday morning. The 125 transfers he received from the distribution of Ballingarry FF Cllr Imelda Goldsboro’s 390 transfers in that count pushed him over the quota of 1,508 giving him a total vote of 1,611.

Cllr Brennan is a nephew of the late Ned Brennan who represented Killenaule as a Labour councillor for 33 years. Labour has not had a councillor in south Tipperary in 10 years.

Cllr Brennan said he was “overwhelmed” with securing a council seat as a first time candidate.

“I put a big effort in and had a big canvas team. I had the backing of my family and the Labour party and I had the backing of my community and the people of Killenaule where I needed it and the hard work has been rewarded,” he told The Nationalist.

He credited his success to a combination of hard work, putting a good campaign team together, running a very visual campaign with lots of posters and over three months of extensive door-to- door canvassing throughout the constituency.

Cllr Brennan, an events/hospitality manager who helps run Clonacody House near Fethard with his wife Helen, said he began canvassing in early March.

“It wasn’t just about putting canvas cards into people’s doors, I wanted to meet the people and get their reaction.”

He cited housing and health services as his priority issues to campaign on improving as a councillor and pointed out speeding traffic on country roads was a big issue among voters he met on the canvas.

He said his hometown of Killenaule and its hinterland voted strongly for him and he received good voter support in Fethard, Moyglass and surrounding areas.

He noted there hasn’t been a Killenaule councillor on Tipperary County Council since the death of the late FG Cllr John Fahey in 2018 .

He believes the strong first preference vote of 1,486 he received was partly due to a great desire among Killenaule people to elect a candidate from their community to represent their interests.

“We are too long without a councillor since the death of John Fahey.

“The people rowed in behind me and I can’t thank them enough. It’s a win for me and a win for them.”

Cllr Brennan’s election is also pivotal in resurrecting the Labour Party from a decade long obscurity in south Tipperary since the voter backlash over the FG/Lab/Green Government’s austerity measures during the last recession.

Michael Cleere, who lost his seat in the 2014 Local Elections was the last Labour councillor from Killenaule.

Cllr Brennan said there has always been a strong Labour vote in the Killenaule area and he set out to harness that vote in this election.

His victory and that of a Louise Morgan-Walsh in north Tipperary brings the Labour representation on Tipperary County Council from one to three councillors.

When asked about whether he would run for Labour in the General Election in South Tipperary, he said it was been spoken about but indicated he would prefer to serve his political apprenticeship as a councillor first before taking such a leap.

“I have to look at the broader picture, look at the people who elected me for the role. My thoughts are representing them at local level. To be a councillor for five years is my aim and that is where I am at.”

While he would consider such a proposal, he added: “It’s a big jump. You have to serve your time if you are an apprentice electrician or carpenter. I will have to serve my time as a public representative and not forget the people who elected me.”