DEEPLY ASHAMED
FG councillor apologises for his part in drunken row
FINE GAEL COUNCILLOR John McGahon, who was recently selected as the party’s candidate in the next general election, has said that he is ‘deeply ashamed’ of his behaviour which led to him getting involved in a drunken row outside a nightclub during the summer.
In a dramatic interview on LMFM last week, the 27-year-old, pictured right, admitted that he has ‘an unhealthy relationship with alcohol’, which had led to him getting involved in stupid situations.
‘It’s something I’m deeply ashamed of and embarrassed about because I’ve let my family down, I’ve let my girlfriend down, I’ve let friends down.’
He said he had a problem with alcohol for ten years and the altercation was ‘a ‘crystallising moment’ which had forced him to look at his drinking.
‘ There are so many times where my behaviour was unacceptable. For me the common denominator was alcohol,’ he said.
Cllr McGahon said that while he hadn’t stopped drinking, he was taking steps to cut down on his alcohol consumption and is starting counselling.
He said he intended using his platform as a Dáil candidate to raise awareness of the link between alcohol abuse and mental health, particularly among young men.
FINE Gael councillor and general election candidate John McGahon has said he is ‘deeply ashamed’ of getting into a drunken row four months ago.
The 27-year-old who was elected to Louth County Council in 2014 , revealed in an interview with Michael Reade on LMFM last week that he was in a drunken fight last July and said that it was a ‘crystallising moment’ in realising that he has an unhealthy relationship with alcohol.
‘It was an incredibly stupid situation for me to even be associated with, let alone be involved in. It’s something I’m deeply ashamed of and embarrassed about because I’ve let my family down, I’ve let my girlfriend down, I’ve let friends down. It’s something that is totally unacceptable,’ Cllr McGahon said.
He also conceded that he hadn’t told the truth in an earlier interview with Michael Reade when he hadn’t admitted being involved in a row.
He didn’t go into detail about the fight saying that it was being investigated and while he hadn’t yet been asked to make a statement, he will if asked.
He said that the row was ‘crystallising moment’ for him which made him realise that he has to deal wit his relationship with alcohol.
‘ There are so many times where my behaviour was unacceptable. For me the common denominator was alcohol,’ Cllr McGahon said.
‘I have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. I have a problem. “Going out on a Saturday and drinking as much as possible in a short space as possible, to get as drunk as possible.
‘If everyone was meeting at half eight, I’d go along at six o’clock.
‘If the weather was nice, I’d go for a pint, if the weather was bad I’d go for a pint. It was any excuse under the sun.’
He admitted that he had got himself into ‘stupid situations’ as a result of his drinking.
Cllr McGahon said that his alcohol problems took a huge toll on his mental health.
‘You deal with real anxiety and depression and you question every life decision. I’d go for a few Sunday pints to settle my nerves. It wasn’t once in a blue moon, it was every weekend.’
He added that while he hasn’t stopped drinking, he is taking steps to deal with his alcohol issue.
‘I’ve dramatically cut down my drinking. I’m trying to avoid situations where I have pints. It takes a lot of focus and determination and in order to maintain that, I’m starting counselling next week. I can’t tackle this by myself. I wish I had started sooner.’
Cllr McGahon, who hopes to run as a Fine Gael candidate in the next general election, said that he wants to use his experience to raise awareness of mental health among men in particular.
‘I was a typical lad. I kept my head down. If I had any issues I just ploughed on. I said I’m strong enough, I don’t have to deal with it and it was the worst thing I have ever done,’ he said.
‘If you look at most men around the country my age, some of them do have unhealthy relationships with alcohol and mental health.
‘I now have a platform as a Dáil candidate, and if all goes to plan and I get elected to the Dáil in the next general election and become a TD, I want to use that platform to show that I had a tough time with it and I confronted it.
‘I thought being strong was just carrying on and not saying anything about it. I wish I had done it a long time ago.’
Cllr McGahon comes from a family with long associations with politics in Dundalk. His father Johnny, who drove him to the studio for the interview, was a Fine Gael councillor as was his grandfather Owen B McGahon. His uncle was Brendan McGahon, who took a strong view on law and order during his time as Fine Gael TD. Cllr McGahon acknowledged that his behaviour went against that and said it was unacceptable due to his work, not just as a councillor but as a parliamentary assistant.