Jones to 'push' Sinn Féin policies in chamber
Sinn Féin’s first elected councillor in Westmeath since 2019 is looking forward to “pushing” his party’s message in the council chamber.
Housing and the provision of local services will be a key focus for David Jones in his five-year term, after the 30-year-old placed second in the Kinnegad LEA and was elected on the 10th count.
He will be providing new representation for his party, and the same can be said for his village of Delvin, which has had no public representatives since 2004.
Mr Jones said he was ecstatic to receive such support from locals. “From the first count it looked like a sure thing, but we just couldn’t count our chickens before they were hatched,” he said.
“I wasn’t so much nervous, I was more excited, because after each count the votes kept coming in and, for me, that was brilliant.
“In the end, the transfers took me up to second place and it was unbelievable to have that support there and know so many people came out to vote for us.”
He’s looking forward to being a voice for his party in the council chamber.
“We went from having no Sinn Féin councillors in the last five years to having two, so that in itself is a brilliant result,” he said.
“I won’t be by myself either, I’ll also have my colleague Julie McCourt in there from Mullingar to work with, and we’ve been working well together for the last two years.
“We’ll be able to push our housing policies and call for more affordable and social housing and we can also join special committees to ensure that policies are pushed through or eased up in some cases.”
Mr Jones said he’s also happy to see Niall Gaffney also elected and Delvin now has representation from two councillors.
“Delvin has never seen the likes of it before, there’s a real buzz about the place, and it was brilliant to see so many young people turn out to vote and make it happen,” he said.
“It wasn’t just the young voters that came out, the elderly did too; I had one woman, a 97-year-old, who woke up at half five in the morning waiting to vote for me and she was the first to vote in Clonmellon.
“It’s been overwhelming and it’s brilliant to see; I’m really proud of myself and proud of the people who helped me get over the line,” Cllr Jones concluded.