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Mary to take Sinn Féin seat
27.05.10
by Damian Dowds, Inishowen Independent
SINN Féin is expected to nominate Mary Kelly to fill
the position left vacant when Daren Lalor resigned
in March.
Nominations for the seat closed last week and it is
understood that Ms Kelly is the only nominee. The
party will hold a convention in the Drift Inn next
Tuesday night where her selection is expected to be
rubber-stamped and she will be co-opted onto
Buncrana Town Council at its June monthly meeting.
“I was shocked to have been approached by the party,
but having spent some time discussing it with my
family I agreed to let my name go forward,” Kelly
said. “It will be something of a learning process
for me at the start, but it’s an opportunity to try
and make a difference in my local community and I’m
looking forward to the challenge.”
From Meenagorey by way of the Illies, the mother of
ten is a well-known community activist. She served
on the board of the South Inishowen Schools’
Completion programme for eight years and was
centrally involved in the campaign to bring clean
water to the Meenagorey area some years ago. |
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“I was on a committee
with a number of others that successfully lobbied to
bring clean water and that was a real eye-opener
into how local government works,” she said.
Mary founded Pedal Right, a company that provides
cycle safety training for people of all ages, but
primarily children.
“There are massive health and environmental benefits
to be had from cycling, and it can even reduce
traffic congestion on the school run, so I’d like to
work on bringing some cycle paths to Buncrana,” she
said.
“The town has great tourism potential that hasn’t
been fully |
tapped and the Council
can play a leading part in realising that,” she
added, reserving particular praise for the work done
by Buncrana’s Tidy Town committee.
“Those volunteers are out every day of the week and
they are doing brilliant work,” she said. “They have
a good working relationship with the Town Council
and that’s something that can be built on in other
areas too.”
A former employee of Inishowen Community Radio, Mary
continues to broadcast with the Carndonagh-based
station in a voluntary capacity.
She says she had previously been approached by other
political parties to run for election, but she
declined because her children were so young that she
couldn’t fully commit to it.
“The time was right when Sinn Féin approached me and
I like their agenda of equality and justice,” she
said. “And another woman in politics will do no harm
either.” |
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