‘NO POLITICAL CLOUT’

JIM McGarry entered politics in the late 1980s because he had a social conscience and wanted to help people improve their lot.

“I’ ll always remember the first person I went to see. A family who was living in the area I was also living in.

“I was absolutely devastated by what I saw and I only thought about it recently why I was so devastated at the conditions they were living in and it was because I was a little bit better off than the conditions they were in. I was really upset about it. That progressed me in politics, seeing that there was a need to help these people.

“I feel sorry now for the Council because I don’t feel they can do anything for people. When I was there you could do things for people. You had a real say and the loss of our Borough Council was huge.

“There was a massive connection between politics, media, business and people. It was very intimate. You could go into town and someone would meet you and say they have a problem. We were building as a nation and as a society for better living conditions.

“We were part of helping people. That to me is all gone now and it’s sad. We all worked together for the betterment of Sligo.” The replacement Municipal Authority has no affinity with the people of Sligo, he says. “It has no power and there’s no money there. Looking at it from the outside and reading at what is going on through the media I genuinely think they’ve gone back but I believe they are doing the best they can.

“The Recession has left a huge mark on everyone and more so in this part of the World. All the statistics bear this out. Sligo is the worst town in the country for closed businesses. Without any survey being done I’d have known that. Everyone can see it. Employment is not there, services are cut and emigration is an ever present.” Above all, he says, Sligo needs political clout.

“We haven’t had it since Ray MacSharry and Ted Nealon left politics. I was there during that time. It was a great battle and The Sligo Champion played a great role in that. They put the politicians under the cosh and they had to deliver. But since then there’s no political clout. That’s a huge drawback because of the system we have means we don’t have strong regional or local government,” he says.