Wallace enters race for Europe at the final hour
THE presence of Mick Wallace’s name on the final list of candidates to contest the Ireland South constituency for the upcoming European Elections caused some shock yesterday. While rumours had been circulating in recent weeks that he and fellow Independents 4 Change candidate Clare Daly were to put their names forward for Europe, these claims were denied by Deputy Wallace’s office, who stated that he was focused on the task at hand in the Dáil.
However, as the deadline loomed for nominations yesterday (Monday), it appears that the Wexford TD had a change of heart and both he and Deputy Daly took the plunge, entering the race for a seat in Brussels. The news will have come as a major blow for Fianna Fáil candidate and Gorey councillor Malcolm Byrne who will have been hoping to single-handedly hoover up the Wexford vote, but will now face competition from the man who finished with some 3,000 votes more than him and was elected to the Dáil following the 2016 general election.
According to Deputy Wallace, he has been agonising over the decision to enter the race for Europe for the past number of weeks and he only came to a final decision over the weekend while on a trip to Cape Clear island in West Cork with fellow members of the Independents 4 Change group. According to Wallace and Clare Daly, after they finally came to their decision, it was touch and go as to whether they would make it back to the mainland in time to formally register, with weather conditions deteriorating and talks of cancelled ferries.
However, make it they did and their nominations were officially lodged yesterday morning.
‘A lot of people say Brussels is where politicians go to retire,’ Deputy Wallace said. ‘Well I don’t do retirement and in many ways I don’t consider myself a politician - I don’t look like one, I don’t talk like one and I don’t act like one. I’m a bit bold in that regard. I’ve never taken on an issue because I thought it might get me votes and I’ve never shied away from an issue because I thought it might lose me votes.’
‘Can I make a difference in Europe?’ He continued.
‘I honestly don’t know, but it won’t be for the lack of trying. I’m a European and happy to be one. That said, the European Parliament is set up to benefit the interests of big business and lobbyists rather than the majority of citizens. If we don’t want something in the Dáil, we’re told “tough, we have to do it because Europe says so”. If we do want something, we’re told “tough, you can’t have it because Europe says you can’t”.’
‘So we’re looking to get elected to see if we can have some influence on legislation at source. I’d like to think we made some difference in the work we’ve done in the Dáil and hopefully, if people are bold enough to elect us, we can make a difference in Europe.’
The Wellingtonbridge native was first elected to the Dáil in 2011, topping the poll in Wexford. Although he didn’t fare quite as well in 2016, he was still comfortably re-elected with 11% of first preference votes.
While he’ll be hoping to have maintained his stock among the people of Wexford, Deputy Wallace will also be hopeful that his public profile is sufficient to see him headed for Brussels after voting on May 24.