THE INDEPENDENTS: Voters should back independent candidates with long records of service in community organisations, Independent TDs said yesterday.
Leading a joint appeal, Mr Tony Gregory complained that Independents now got 12 per cent of the vote in national elections, but were largely ignored by the press.
"Independents can't even describe themselves as such on the ballot. They have a choice between being called Non-Party, or a blank space after their names," he said.
The Independents who gathered in Buswell's Hotel yesterday do not have a common manifesto, though all would oppose bin and water charges, incineration and many planning developments.
Dublin north inner-city candidate, Mr Joe Mooney, said Independent candidates could be loyal to their electorate, rather than to party machines.
The proposed Spencer Dock development on Dublin's northside quays by Treasury Holdings was supported by the major parties, until they finally realised most local people opposed it, he said.
People opposed to bin charges should come out and vote for independents in June because the local authorities had "just put the issue aside until the election is out of the way", Mr Mooney claimed.
Cllr Fintan Cassidy, who took over the local authority seat of Dublin North Central Independent TD, Mr Finian McGrath, said the ending of the dual mandate had actually helped Independents. "We have worked very well as a team. I can pass problems up the line to Finian, and I can deal with local matters," he said. Mr McGrath said Independent TDs had co-operated well together in the Dáil "even if we don't agree on everything".
Ms Teresa McHugh, who is married to Independent TD Mr Paddy McHugh and is seeking a Tuam Town Council seat, said there was no place for party politics on local authority bodies. "I will be in a position to articulate the views of the townspeople in an unfettered manner and without being a slave to any political party," she said.
The abolition of the dual mandate, Mr McHugh said, had been designed to hurt Independent TDs "but it won't make a bit of difference" to the numbers elected.
Mr Seán Canney, who is seeking a Galway County Council seat, said councillors "should be working for the people and not be shackled by party constraints". Cavan-Monaghan TD Mr Paudge Connolly said party councillors opposed health cuts locally, but voted for them at health board meetings.
