‘Lot of complacency in local politics’ – Sinn Féin candidate

Hoping to return a first Sinn Féin seat on Westmeath County Council since 2019 is a Mullingar-based candidate who aims to fix “complacency in local politics”.

Damien Rooney was selected to run for Ireland’s highest polling party in the Mullingar Local Electoral Area (LEA) following a recent convention, and will put himself forward alongside running mate Julie McCourt.

Mr Rooney, who had no political affiliation until recently, had been a trade union representative with An Post “on and off” during his 30 years working with the organisation in Dublin.

He described himself as “politics nerd” who happened to join Sinn Féin earlier this year after receiving help from the party in finding a school place for his son.

His son had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in 2022 and was subsequently unable to find a place in a local secondary school for a whole year.

Mr Rooney then began a media campaign, appearing on Liveline with Joe Duffy and a number of other national and local media titles, before finding a school place for his son in September 2023.

During that time, he had also been lobbying local politicians, one of whom was Sinn Féin TD, Sorca Clarke.

“I had gone to every politician in the constituency for help and the only one that gave me a positive return was Sorca [Clarke],” he said.

“After the issue with the school place was resolved, I was asked to go to a meeting; I had never been to a Sinn Féin meeting before and it wasn’t like what I had expected.

“It was really positive and didn’t fit the constant unfair commentary I had believed from other political parties in Ireland about Sinn Féin over the last number of years.”

With a newfound belief in the party, and following a wish to make change after his own experiences, Mr Rooney decided to run in next year’s local elections.

“Westmeath needs more transport services for education, is one thing I really believe. There are buses coming into Mullingar from Rochfortbridge and Killucan for students, but there are no buses going back,” he said.

“Obviously we also need to build more homes, but it’s not just bricks and mortar. The local authority needs to build communities by providing services for these new homes – we’ve seen suburbs in Ireland fall into decay without services.”

He believes the council chamber is in need of a “shake up,” come next June.

“We’ve had the same political structure for 100 years, there’s lots of complacency in local and national politics,” said Mr Rooney.

“We’re hoping to get lots of Sinn Féin councillors into that chamber next year and change the dynamic.

“It’s positive because it will make other representatives work that bit harder too. They need to be challenged.”

The Mullingar constituency has changed dramatically in recent year, he adds, and its is now a “multi-cultural town” with a new electorate and a new mandate who, he says, want Sinn Féin to represent them.

Damien Rooney has lived in Mullingar for the last 15 years and is a member of Mullingar Toastmasters, among other local groups.

He spoke at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Athlone earlier this month and met party leader Mary Lou McDonald to discuss local education issues.

While there, Mr Rooney also met and spoke with Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill and the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid.