Culloty worried over Healy-Rae seat grab as FF ‘liberal agenda’ is tipping point in decision to quit

CLLR John Joe Culloty said he is concerned that his decision not to contest next May’s Local Elections could hand a seat to the Healy-Raes. The Raheen-based councillor broke his silence on his decision not to run in the 2019 election, and he said there is little he can do to stop the seat potentially going the way of the Healy-Raes.

“If I was canvassing I would feel confident of taking the seat again. But, yes, I am concerned they [Healy-Raes] will take it,” Cllr Culloty said.

“But that’s not my fault. I have served Fianna Fáil, and it’s not my fault that somebody else is going to take a step in where I’m leaving it open. I’ve done what I’ve done, and done it to the best of my ability.”

Cllr Culloty cited frustration at the red tape involved in council business and the current route taken by Fianna Fáil as leading factors in his decision to walk away from politics.

A vocal critic of repealing the Eighth Amendment, he was also formally approached by former Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín about joining a new party, but he said he was not interested.

“I was approached by Peadar, but I’m not joining. I do think he is tapping into something. But I have given a commitment to work with Deputy John Brassil in his campaign. After that I will be stepping down from politics.”

Cllr Culloty stated that he has plans to pursue a different career path in a sales job with a paving and haulage business owned by a close friend of his.

“It’s something that interests me. I will be 60 at the end of the next term were I to run and get elected. He [his friend] wants me to work full-time with him. It’s only five minutes from where I live.”

But the old adage ‘once a politician, always a politician’ is never far from the equation as Cllr Culloty has not ruled out tackling what he describes as the rise in ‘excessive liberal agendas’ in Ireland in the future.

“I could see myself helping some other like-minded person in the future. There is a very liberal agenda being promoted that never seems to end. When one thing is through, another thing is brought forward. I’m not old-fashioned or conservative, but I do think there is a rise in ultra-liberalism.

“There is a noticeable intolerance in politics, and this concerns me, and the voices of moderate people are almost ridiculed, which I personally don’t think is good for society. I would certainly be open to campaigning for such issues in the future.”