It’s a time of change for Johnny Mythen as by-election approaches
IN the immortal words of Bob Dylan the times they are a changing, or at least that’s the case for Sinn Fein’s Johnny Mythen who will be contesting this month’s by-election in county Wexford.
The Enniscorthy man got married at the start of the month and has decided to throw his hat once again into the political mix having lost his seat on the county council last time around.
That loss was a shock to the people of Enniscorthy and across the county especially given that Mr Mythen came within 31 votes of winning a seat for his party in the previous General Election.
Now he has his sights set firmly on winning that seat and speaking to this newspaper he highlighted that for him politics is not a personal thing but it’s about the people of Wexford.
‘The county has been neglected for too long and my aim is to work for all of the people of the county if I am elected,’ he said.
In particular he feels areas like mental health need to be seriously looked at in a meaningful way rather than just sound-bytes,
‘Issues like homelessness are becoming normalised in society and that’s not right,’ he said.
‘People hear about things happening and will go ‘that’s not right’ but then make a cup of tea and forget about it and something has to be done about that,’ he added.
At the time of the General Election his party was on a crest of a wave in terms of popularity and while it didn’t quite manage to secure as many seat as anticipated there were signs that things were changing for Sinn Fein in a positive way.
However, in the interim there has been a slump in support for the party across the island and when asked if that is something that perhaps hindered his chances last time around in the local elections - and could do so again in the by-election - Mr Mythen remained pragmatic and optimistic.
‘It’s the nature of politics because when you look at it, it wasn’t just Sinn Fein that lost out because Fianna Fail and Fine Gael also lost a lot of support in recent times too so it’s cyclical,’ he said.
With regard to his defeat in the local elections he said it’s something that obviously disappointed him at the time and while the party has tried to analyse what went wrong he admitted that it was a defeat that surprised everyone.
‘We have looked at and tried to see what went wrong and while we have some ideas the honest answer is I don’t know but you can either give up or get up and keep going,’ he said.
Mr Mythen feels society in general has gone into what he describes as an ‘I culture’ which he equates to people living in a bubble and what goes on outside of that is irrelevant to them.
He said that’s particularly true within politics and highlighted that with many of those within Dail Eireann being landlords and millionaires it’s almost impossible for them to grasp the reality of living in modern-day Ireland for the majority of working people.
‘It was very noticeable in the last couple of elections, when you were going around, that people nowadays tend to shut their front door,’ he said.
‘The keep the blinds down,’ he added.
Highlighting that it’s indicative of the way society is going he said times are very different now to when he was growing up in St Aidan’s Villas in Enniscorthy and people had their doors open and neighbouring children were treated as part of the family regardless of what door they entered while out playing.
‘It didn’t matter what house you went into you got a cup of tea or bread and jam and that day is gone,’ he said.
He also highlighted the freedom that young people had years ago compared to nowadays and said that’s also indicative or changing times.
With regard to Wexford and whether or not politics has failed the county to-date Mr Mythen said the fact that Wexford is the third most disadvantaged county in the country in terms if infrastructure investment is something that needs to be addressed.
‘The IDA has been invisible for the last 15 years or more and its remit is to create jobs for the most disadvantaged areas of where there are a lack of jobs so it’s not just us saying the IDA should be doing this or that - that’s what it’s job is.’
He also feels unemployment is still relatively high in Wexford and that good, quality jobs needed not just part-time work.
‘Rosslare is imperative with the situation we are in at the moment with Brexit,’ he said.
‘Since 2007 we have raised it as an issue,’ he added.
‘There is an immediate problem in Rosslare in that it’s governed by two laws; by the Railway Act and the Harbour Act and it’s been stated by the Attorney General that this is an impediment,’
He went on to comment that the solution lays with the Government: ‘It’s a natural and national resource and I believe all natural resources should remain with the people.’
Obviously, a Republican by nature Mr Mythen feels Republicanism is something that most people in county Wexford have an inclination for.
‘I think if you scratch the surface most people here would like to see a united Ireland and I suppose my view on it is that the time is right for us to talk about it but in a meaningful, constructive way,’ he said.
When questioned as to whether or not it would be financially viable for Ireland to become a 32 county Republic he said a recent study by a Boston professor led to the belief that it would be worth €35bn to the economy if there was no border.
‘We hear all the time that it’s not the right time or it’s not economically right,’ he said.
‘Let’s stop that and let’s have the conversation about it,’ he added.
‘Let’s take it on and we are [also] here to bring the unionists and the loyalists people with us,’ he added.
Mr Mythen also said unionists and loyalists would have more to gain in a united Ireland because they would have around 25 per cent of the vote at national parliament rather than relying on Westminster to make decisions for them.
He said throughout the world where most problems occur are areas where divisional borders are in place.
When asked how people in the north would benefit from coming under the banner of the HSE rather than the NHS Mr Mythen said the issue was how Ireland [the Republic] could make its system ‘as good as theirs’.
‘It’s public policy that creates this and that needs to be looked at,’ he said.
‘Decision making at higher level creates this system; it’s public policy that creates this system and that needs to be looked at,’ he added.
‘We will always have the Irish question and it needs to be answered because for years it was neglected and what we had was a 30-year war and nobody wants that - any war isn’t good for anybody. A lot of our politicians just buried their heads and didn’t try to resolve it in a meaningful way but not because of Brexit it’s coming to the fore again.’
Putting his hat into the political ring again is not a decision that Mr Mythen made lightly.
However, he said there has been shift in the balance of society much more towards people who have wealth and he said that means a lot more people are being marginalised.
‘The old thing that people said that the wealthy get wealthier and it dribbled down eventually, well that doesn’t happen anymore because now wealthy people are even spending money here,’ he said.
‘That’s especially true as well with multinational companies where the money is going out of the country altogether.’
With regard to Wexford he said the county has a lot to offer.
Mr Mythen often raised concerns about mental health awareness and support during his time on the local authority and if elected to Dail Eireann he said it’s an area he will continue to lobby extensively on.
He said the measures taken by the New Zealand parliament in being the first administration anywhere in the world to bring in a full mental health budget should be taken on board here due to the similarities of the two countries in terms if size and indigenous industries.
‘We have a responsibility ourselves to make sure things are better in the future,’ he said.
He commented that economic growth also causes it’s own issues in terms of the environment and that also needs to be looked at.
‘We are emphasising a lot things about the growth of the economy but not about growth of people holistically and the difference between the two has shifted enormously in the last few years and in a direction that I don’t particularly like.’
The rise in right wing politics across Europe and the world is something that concerns him - especially from the point of view that division is becoming part of the norm in society in general.
In terms of jobs in Wexford he said indigenous industries need as much support and help as possible - especially SMEs, which he feels are the backbone of the county.
A passionate Wexford man he said the thing that makes him most proud of the county is the resilience of its people.
‘We haven’t had our fair share of the pie and yet people here just get on with it,’ he said.
‘It’s the ‘grandism’ not the grandiose of people here that makes them special,’ he added.
‘If someone in Wexford is dying and someone asks how are you getting on they go ‘ah sure I’m grand’; that’s the kind of attitude that Wexford people have.’
He went on to comment: ‘Wexford people have always been industrious and that was even noted in the 17 th century.’
While he got married earlier this month Mr Mythen and his wife Barbara have been together for many years and have five grandchildren together.
‘Getting married is something we should have done years ago and we decided now is a good time,’ he said.
Proud of his upbringing in Enniscorthy Mr Mythen has been involved in community work in the town for many years and still does some coaching with the local Shamrocks GAA club.
If he’s successful in the by-election he said he will be endeavour to do his best for the county but he also said that even if not successful he will analyse how he does to gauge what his next move will be.
‘It’s about keeping going and never giving in because there has to be an alternative to everything.’
IF YOU SCRATCH THE SURFACE MOST PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A UNITED IRELAND. THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR US TO TALK ABOUT IT BUT IN A MEANINGFUL, CONSTRUCTIVE WAY