She's the first woman mayor of Tuam, and at 22, is probably the youngest person to hold a mayorality in Ireland. Davin O'Dwyer meets Sally Ann Flanagan
There's a widely held vision of the local Irish politician, a caricature that's two-parts D'Unbelievables to one-part Scrap Saturday: largely bumbling and oafish, but with a dose of cunning. That caricature is definitely out of date if Sally Ann Flanagan is anything to go by - the 22-year-old has just become mayor of Tuam, Co Galway, and none of the old clichés stick. She still lives with her parents, for one thing.
"I was renting in Galway, but there's not much point in the mayor of Tuam living in Galway, so I moved home," she says. "I was elected as a town councillor in the 2004 election; I was only 19 when I was asked to run. I had been involved with the Tuam Fine Gael branch, and a former councillor approached me.
"I asked my friends about going for it, because if they wouldn't vote for me, I wouldn't have a hope in hell. They all said to go for it, and I was elected on the first count. There are nine councillors, and the first five get to be mayor in the order they were elected."
It's fair to say her strong showing was a surprise. "I genuinely didn't think I would do so well. I was just going day-by-day, but I thought I would get in because there were so many of my friends and neighbours voting for me. Neither of my parents was involved in politics, so that was another huge surprise, really. Usually there would be some connection [with politics] in someone starting so young."
Flanagan is a fresh face for a town that is undergoing many of the seismic changes that Dublin's satellite towns experienced 10 years ago. Increasing numbers of Galway workers are relocating to Tuam, and a huge boom in housing construction has seen the population explode (as well as traffic jams on the way to Galway become ever more unbearable).
For a town on the cusp of such rejuvenation, it is fitting that Flanagan, with her youth and enthusiasm, is given the chance to be first citizen. Tuam, though, is used to mould-breaking mayors - a few years ago, the town made headlines when Martin Ward became the country's first Traveller mayor. Ward is currently deputy mayor, and will assume the office again next year.
It must be strange, having these responsibilities, when Flanagan's friends can just kick back in the nightclub every weekend. "I have to say, when I was going out, before the election, the DJ in the club used to be telling everyone to 'Vote Sally Ann'. I enjoy a sociable drink, but I'd never go out in a mad way. You do have to mind your Ps and Qs. You always make sure you are responsible because people are looking at you as the first citizen of the town. But I've made my bed, so now I'll sleep in it."
What about the theory that young people are apathetic towards politics? "I think my involvement encourages them to get into it, get interested. A lot of younger people in particular come up to me and say 'I voted for you because I feel like I can come up and talk to you'. I think it's hugely important that people think I'm easily contactable and approachable. People know where I live; they have my number."
Will she take this woman-of-the-people approach to a national stage? "I think if anyone gets into politics at this age, they would have to have ambitions to go further. I'm not going to be lying to anyone: one day I would like to go further. I feel, as well, that I almost owe it to a lot of people to go further, but I have to take this year one day at a time. This year is huge for me. I could always see myself going down this path. Mind you, I didn't think I'd start so quickly. I only did the Leaving Cert four years ago."
For such an obviously ambitious person, Flanagan has none of the insincerity or self-centredness that is often the hallmark of ambitious people.
Nor is she particularly fond of politics-speak. "I just say what I think. Often, the typical political answer would be to evade [the question], but I don't believe in that. I think you should say it like it is; that's all people want in their politicians. I don't think my mother would let me get cynical or too political, to be honest."
Juggling her position as mayor with a job at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, where she did a diploma in community development, she says the support she has received from her employers, the other councillors, and her parents, Jim and Rosaleen, has been invaluable in helping her adjust to her new responsibilities.
One thing above all, though, has been a factor in her early achievement. "My older sister Frida died in 1993. She had a rare blood disease. It was a long illness, and I think that's one of the reasons I love the town so much, and you have to love your town if you're going to represent it. When Frida died, everyone in the town was so good to us. It's something I'll never forget. I'm so proud of the town and the people here. I'd love it if I could make the people of Tuam as proud of me as I am of them."