Gavan takes Westmeath Seanad contingent to 'Fore'

You can take the man out of Fore, but if Senator Paul Gavan is anything to go by it's harder to take Fore out of the man.

One of four Lakesiders in the Upper House, the Sinn Fein senator and SIPTU official may be based in Limerick but he has not forgotten his Westmeath roots.

“My father John was one of eight children who all went to Fore National School. His father Patrick worked as a herdsman on the Sallymount estate all his life,” says Mr Gavan.

“Like so many people in the 1950s, my Dad had to emigrate and I was born in London, but I returned home to Westmeath when I was just 13, to Fore.

“We were really happy there, it is such a special place. I went to school in St Oliver’s in Oldcastle,” Paul told the Westmeath Examiner.

“Fore is still the same beautiful place of my childhood, I have such amazing memories of summers on the White Lake and at Lough Lene. When I come home to visit Mam and friends, it all is still so beautiful.

“I am really proud of my Westmeath background and even now that my life is in Limerick, I still follow the Westmeath hurlers and footballers.”

Senator Gavan intends to use his new position to be a voice for workers’ rights in the Oireachtas.

“As someone with experience in the trade union movement, I will be a vocal advocate for workers’ rights in the time ahead, particularly in the area of living wage where my colleague David Cullinane TD made great strides during his own time as a Senator.

“I also wish to restate my support for the ICTU Charter for Fair Conditions at Work, as I firmly believe that a strong economy cannot exist without a fair society.”