I'm not lying down just because I lost my seat - David Doran

Thurles man David Doran is facing his first festive season in fifteen years without the title 'Councillor' beside his name. But, the former member of Thurles Town Council, Tipperary County Council and the Templemore Thurles Municipal District Council, is not lying down just because he has lost his seat.

Local election day on May 24 saw the electorate cast their votes, but David was unable to even vote for himself. Standing as in independent councillor for the first time in his decade and a half of public representation, he took seriously ill a week out from the election and was fortunate to survive a very serious affront to his life. But, as he listened to local radio from his hospital bed and heard that he had lost his seat, he vowed that his time in politics would not end like this.
“I had been feeling really tired and looking back now I wasn't well at all. But, I was telling myself that it was all the canvassing and the worry of the election, while at the same time holding down my day job. I thought that I would go and sort out my health after the election, but it didn't work out that way. I was very lucky – my faith is very strong and I know that somebody up there was looking out for me,” he said.

David was too ill initially to appreciate the impact the loss of his seat would have on him, his team and his family. His first thought was to get well again and having spent three weeks in the wonderful care of Nenagh General Hospital, and nine weeks out of work, his recovery process was a slow one. Right now he confesses to being about 80% right – ulcerated colitis was eventually diagnosed and David continues to have treatment once a month in order to keep the condition at bay.
“I cannot say enough good things about Dr Paul Ryan and Premier Health Clinic, and the staff in Nenagh General Hospital. They were brilliant and they helped me to put things into perspective and get me back on the right track. I definitely have a different outlook on life right now, eventhough I am still helping people wherever I can and my phone is still ringing. I have built up so many contacts during my time as a public representative and thankfully the council staff and officials are delighted to help out too whenever they can – they were very supportive during my illness and many of them picked up the phone and rang me to see how I was. That meant a lot because we all have our arguments and rows in the chamber, but we all know that it is never personal,” David said.

“I regard the last year as being like my annus horribilis. I parted from Sinn Fein after over twenty years with the party and that was not easy for me. There was a lot of soul searching with all that was going on and then we had the local elections and all the canvassing. To get sick then in the last week and lose my seat was a big blow – I often wonder how I would have gotten on, had I been around for the last week. My team continued to campaign for me and they did a great job, despite me not being around,” says David who was the first ever Sinn Fein councillor on Thurles Town Council.

David still managed to poll 1,100 first preference votes and actually increased his vote in in the Thurles ballot boxes. He is quick to congratulate all those who were elected and says that despite having lost his seat, he is privileged to exist in a democratic society, and wouldn't have it any other way.

Working as a supervisor with Tipperary Glass in Templemore, David never had a sick day in his 23 years of work, until his May event. And, he is so grateful to his employers and the staff for their understanding and their caring attitude when his time of need arrived. “I was very vulnerable and very sick, but they were there all the time and I really appreciated that,” he says, while also mentioning his family and partner Julie who were 100% behind him.

David Doran is out and about again, but he is doing things now that he was unable to do for fifteen years – he is swimming, attending the gym and enjoying the relative freedom associated with his life right now – he is even heading off on holidays soon, a rarity indeed for him. He is still involved with the Thurles Halloween Festival, Christmas Skyfest and the Rahealty Community Hall, and is still at the end of a phoneline to assist people in whatever way he can.
“Whether I am a councillor or not, that would be in my nature. It's the way I was brought up – you help out your neighbour and your people if you can at all. That doesn't change just because the seat is gone,” he says.

David misses politics – he enjoyed the buzz and the craic. But, he is keeping in touch with the goings on and retains an interest in the business of Tipperary County Council and the Regional Authority, of which he was also a member. And, he says that he will be standing again in time.
“Yes, I do intend standing again God willing. I am not bowing out of politics like that and I fully intend putting myself before the electorate again in time. I enjoyed doing what I was doing and you always get satisfaction from sorting out a problem for somebody. That's the real pleasure of being involved in the local authority and I fully intend giving it another go as an independent candidate. Time will tell how it works out,” he says.

David Doran was always regarded as a very sincere and capable public representative – his support crossed the political divide too and he is buoyed by the good wishes he continues to receive from people when he is out and about. Yes, losing his seat was a big blow to himself personally, his family and his team, but he is philosophical enough to know that there are bigger crosses to be shouldered in life and he is not dwelling on his lost seat too much right now. If anything his focus has shifted from looking in the rearview mirror of life, to looking straight ahead and what challenges might arrive at his door. He is in a good place and he is content.

“I've been through a lot in the last year, but that's all in the past and it is time to look forward now. Yes, I still have a bit to go in terms of my health, but I have a lot to be thankful for and I'm grateful for the chance I am receiving. We'll see what the next few years bring after that,” he says.