Alan Kelly to contest election with eyes on ministerial position

After over two years of speculation, the Labour Party TD for Tipperary, Alan Kelly, has confirmed to this newspaper that he will contest the next general election, and is hoping to regain a place in the Cabinet.

Rumour has been rife that Mr Kelly was going to retire from politics come the next election, after he was forced by party colleagues to step down as leader of the Labour Party in March 2022.

But on Monday the former MEP and junior and senior government minister confirmed to this newspaper that he will contest the forthcoming election, predicted by many to take place as early as next month or at the very latest in February of next year.

And he predicts that the Labour Party will win sufficient seats to make it a contender for a place in a new coalition government, holding out the prospect that he too could once again sit around the Cabinet table.

“I feel a great loyalty to all those people who supported me through my political career, and I feel I have a lot more to give, and I want to give into the future,” said Mr Kelly.

He confirmed that he did question his future in politics after losing the Labour leadership. “I would be lying about what happened two and a half years ago if I said I wasn’t disappointed. It was a huge disappointment to me.

“But time has healed a lot of that and I have had good conversations with party colleagues and they are delighted I am going to continue my work as a TD for the Labour Party.”

Mr Kelly, who was Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government from 2014 to 2016, said having a senior government minister in the constituency resulted in major investment in North Tipperary.

He now has his eyes on a similar position - if Labour manages to do a deal with other parties to form a new coalition government after the next election.

“When I was a minister, I delivered as best I possibly could for North Tipperary. Because of that I think Nenagh has become one of the best towns, not alone in Tipperary, but also in Munster and the entire state,” he said.

NEW INVESTMENT

As minister, he announced the arrival of Fiserv, originally called First Data, and helped create the enterprising climate that attracted companies like The Lunch Bag to Nenagh, both of these companies creating hundreds of jobs in the local community.

Mr Kelly said being a minister also helped him secure funding for a new community nursing home in the town, expansion of the local hospital, the new bridge project now almost completed linking Killaloe and Ballina, and he says he created the conditions that led to the decision to develop the primary healthcare facility now under construction at Tyone.

As a senior minister, he also announced the plan for a multi-million euro project to build a hydro-electric generating station in the Silvermines Mountains - now almost set to go for planning permission - as well as having the influence that brought much investment in local sports clubs, schools and new town parks for Nenagh and Newport.

Mr Kelly says all these projects were delivered in difficult times after the country went through an economic crash. Now that the economy is in a much more financially buoyant position, he says he gets excited about what Labour could do for the country - and North Tipperary - if it became part of the new government.

“I believe the Labour Party will be there when it comes to negotiations in the formation of a new coalition, and if we do get in, I plan on making sure that North Tipperary is at the top table when it comes to decision making,” he says.

top table

As for his own prospects of what role he might play, he says: “I believe I am well placed to be a minister because I served in cabinet before. To be at the top table is a huge motivation and ambition for me.

“If you are a senior minister you can get a lot of things done. I was last a minister when the country was in dire straits, financially. Imagine what could be done now with the feast of money available to the country. I want to be elected, and I hope to be in government to ensure that North Tipperary gets its slice of the economic pie.”

Mr Kelly said the people of Tipperary, and especially North Tipperary, had put their faith in him ever since he was first elected to the Dáil in 2011, and he urged them to deliver that support once more in the next election.

CHALLENGES

He said the decision to commit had been made against a challenging family background as his elderly parents had both had more than their share of illness, his brother-in-law, John, was critically ill following a heart attack, and his two children were in secondary school.

“I have had to learn how to balance work and family, and I have great support from people like my wife Regina and councillor Fiona Bonfield without whom I could not function.

“My constituency office in Summerhill is really busy and my assistant Roisin Horrigan takes in hundreds of queries every week on a huge number of issues that we try to help people with.”

Mr Kelly said his party was on a high following the election of two extra Labour councillors to Tipperary County Council in the elections back in June.

He said the new local councillor Louise Morgan Walsh was working hard, making her presence felt in the Nenagh Municipal District, and he thanked all his backroom team for the great support - support that now needed to be doubled as general election time looms closer.