In November 2024, New Ross native Michael Sheehan resigned from Fianna Fáil after more than 25 years in the party.
His decision to go it alone seemingly related to the party’s decision not to run him as a candidate for Dáil Éireann in the 2024 general election, following an unsuccessful showing for the party in 2020.
Closing in on two years later, Cllr Sheehan has now opted to throw his lot in with another political party – Independent Ireland – although, he begins his pitch by stating “I had made the decision from day one that I wasn’t going to go back into party politics”.
So, is this not exactly what he’s doing by taking up a role as Independent Ireland’s new finance spokesperson?
“No,” he replies, somewhat ambiguously. “Because my first responsibility is to the people. Whether I agree or disagree with Independent Ireland, it’s the people I answer to.”
Noting that there’s no party whip within Independent Ireland, he believes that this affords him freedom to pursue issues in a manner that would more directly benefit his constituents. “You don’t have that latitude within a political party,” he says.
“This is a national action, so I now have a national platform for local issues. I’m going to be enterprise spokesperson, which means I get to talk budgets and money; business and industrial strategy. It’s really important to me that I’m going to carry all the stuff I get locally to a national audience and amplify it.”
However, having previously spoken of a tight relationship with Micheál Martin, receiving a personalised letter from the Fianna Fáil leader on the day of his wedding to Edward Kavanagh, surely these pathways to raise local issues nationally were stronger when he was operating within a government party?
“I wouldn’t say I had more of a pathway within Fianna Fáil,” he said. “My first responsibility was serving the people of Wexford, and I wasn’t going to be able to continue to do that in the way I wanted within Fianna Fáil. I had to do the right thing for the people of Wexford.”
When put to him that his critics would suggest that his new membership of Independent Ireland is a marriage of convenience rather than an aligning of political ideologies, he dismisses the suggestion.
“The first thing I’d say is that, even the Fianna Fáil TDs, they’re friends of mine,” he says. “We would disagree, but we won’t be disagreeable. I’d still have a pint with them. It’s the same with the (FF) lads in the council chamber.
“I’ve never had an argument with the Fianna Fáil organisation, but what I’ve always wanted to do is to serve the people to the best of my ability. When I could no longer do that within the party, I had to make a decision. I could’ve said nothing, but that’s….”
Cllr Sheehan stresses that “Ireland has changed” and part of this change has seen many people look outside of the traditional political parties and more towards independents.
It’s perhaps fair to suggest that his estrangement from the Fianna Fáil party therefore is a calculated taking of the political temperature rather than any disillusionment over party policy.
“Well, the line in the sand would be that, after 27 years, they’re not going to run you,” he shrugs. “If I wasn’t going to be selected to contest a general election, they’d have been better off to just say ‘no, we’re not going to do it’ and that’s it. But they didn’t.
“Since I’ve stepped out of the (FF) frame over the last year, I can see things a little bit differently. Looking how both parties have operated in the chamber, things are different.”
In a previous life, not too long ago, Cllr Sheehan would’ve been regarded as among the more staunch Fianna Fáil councillors, quick to throw jibes in the direction of the Sinn Féin and Independent councillors he now takes his seat among. So does he now regret some of his previous travails in the name of the party?
“You know…the past is a different country,” he smiles.
It’s a country he feels no desire to revisit.
“From day one I said I would never go back (to Fianna Fáil),” he says. “No going back. I wish Micheál Martin well. When the EU presidency kicked off, I sent him a message wishing him the best of luck.
“One of the great things about being an Independent is that I get to work with all the political parties. That’s not going to change. What will change is that I’m going to be far more vociferous about the finance end of it and drive the change through independent Ireland, because there is a need out there and an argument to be made that anybody working is not getting a fair deal.
“You’re paying close to 52pc tax, but you’re getting nothing for it. We shouldn’t have situations where somebody is off the county council housing list because they make €378 or more per week.
“That’s a serious problem. In the future, the only people who are going to get council houses will either be unwaged or have come in from one of the different processes. It’s not good for society. It’s not a good social mix, and already you can see it playing out.”
Immigration is a topic that has seen Independent Ireland TDs subjected to criticism in the past with the suggestion being that some of their soundbites overlap with a broader, more hardline anti-immigration sentiment.
“The tone has changed in this country,” Cllr Sheehan said. “People are now starting to say things they wouldn’t have said a year ago. What we need is leaders who can listen and say ‘you can respectfully disagree, without being disagreeable’.
“Legal immigration is needed. You’ve got a declining birthrate and by 2040, there will be two million pensioners. So if you think that one out, we’re going to have a huge issue in servicing the pensions of pensioners beyond 2040.
“What you don’t need is people who are in the country, who have been told ‘you’re not an asylum case, go back’ and six years later, they’re still here. That’s the issue. I would absolutely be critical of people in any political parties, and it’s in all parties, who are disrespectful or intolerant of other people’s traditions or backgrounds. That’s not what we (Independent Ireland) are about.”
What Independent Ireland “are about” is a topic that’s up for debate. Critics of the party would suggest they are just a collection of disparate voices and big personalities with no definite ideology.
“This is a new and evolving party,” Cllr Sheehan says. “It’s a coalition of like-minded individuals. At the moment, there’s up to 38 conversations being held across the country with councillors or candidates of different calibres, different genders and different backgrounds. We’re in the early stages of seeing how all that will come together.
“But there are certain principles you can see coming together. It’s all based in community. It’s organic, from the ground up. It’s common sense stuff – basic stuff, your housing, your roads, your water, agriculture. It’s not highfalutin stuff.”
As finance spokesperson, Cllr Sheehan launches into Independent Ireland’s desire to launch a €1 billion local government fund “for councils to rejuvenate their town centres”, pointing towards the need for a “retail part in the middle of New Ross”.
He also preaches messages of giving young people hope and fighting the tide of emigration to Australia.
“There are families out there working every hour to make ends meet with nothing to show for it at the end of the week,” he said. “There are others who are not doing a tap and they’re living their best life. While I don’t have a problem with the second, I do have a problem with the first.”
But in order to make the changes he speaks of, does Independent Ireland harbour serious ambitions of being in government? And would that mean an alliance with his former party Fianna Fáil?
“That’ll be up to the party (Independent Ireland) to decide if they’re going into negotiations,” he says. “Personally, I wouldn’t have any difficulty with it. In 2029, we’re going to have four elections – local, European, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann – so we’ll see what comes out of that.
“I’d expect the party to be fielding candidates everywhere and I’d expect in the local elections we’ll field candidates in every electoral area. Conversations are ongoing with some great people.”
Just whether fellow Wexford Fianna Fáil defector Cllr Joe Sullivan is among the names, Cllr Sheehan wouldn’t say.
Gorey-based Cllr Sullivan quit Fianna Fáil back in June, having concluded a controversial rein as Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, and he is also believed to be flirting with the idea of throwing his lot in with Independent Ireland.
“The only parties with the mojo at the moment are Independent Ireland and Social Democrats,” Cllr Sheehan concludes with a smile. “So what we need to do, and what I need to do, is capitalise on that.”