Massiveshockas Perrylosesseat
IT was the biggest shock at the Sligo/ Leitrim count, the end for now of the political career of John Perry who has been a Fine Gael Deputy since 1997.
He has known the highs and lows over those 19 years, going from ministerial office to having to go to the High Court in order to get on the party ticket for this election having lost out at that controversial convention in Drumshambo.
The outgoing Deputy left it until Sunday morning before making an appearance at the count arriving with his wife Marie and son Jude. While naturally subdued it was a far from bitter Perry who spoke with The Sligo Champion.
In 2011, Deputy Perry secured 19.5% of the first preference vote and was elected on count 8 with 11,973 votes but the writing was on the wall early this time for the Ballymote based TD who saw his vote collapse, attracting just 4,403 first preferences ( 7.1%) and going out after count nine with 4,935 votes.
“It was a challenging election at all times but that’s what it is all about really. You just get on with it. You take challenges as an opportunity,” he said. He stressed that he was glad he went to the lengths he did to get on the ticket and said the result at the ballot box had to be respected.“It think it is important to acknowledge all those who are going to be victorious,” he said. It was very hard, he said, to analyse the campaign in terms of what went wrong for him.
There was certainly an anti- government sentiment abroad but Perry said one element which was important was the fact there was no councillor base in South Sligo to help him after a number of FG councillors lost their seats at the local elections in 2014. “The councillor base is very important,” he said.
He added the issue of follow- up mammography services at Sligo University Hospital wasn’t a significant factor in his defeat though he believed the signing of a contract for a mobile service probably came too late. It wasn’t a political issue but more one of moral responsibility, he added.
“Every issue cannot be about politics. Every issue is about people really,” he said.
One matter that came up on the doorstep in particular was the lack of the sense of a Recovery in the West of Ireland.
“That was understandable. People are facing enormous challenges, trying to educate families with big mortgages and so on and it was felt the recovery hadn’t spread this far down never mind continuing the recovery,” he said.
He felt a more appropriate slogan for the party might have been, ‘ Spread the Recovery’ rather than ‘ Keeping the Re- covery Going.’ He wouldn’t go as far as saying party leader Enda Kenny was out of touch with the public mood and wouldn’t comment on speculation surrounding his future as leader.
“I’m not here to criticise a campaign or complain about anybody. I’ve enjoyed my tenure. I’m the longest serving Deputy ever in Leinster House from this constituency, nineteen years. I’ve enjoyed my tenure immensely and I’ve learned a lot from it. I’ve been very fortunate here on four occasions. You don’t win all the matches.”
Pressed as to his future, he wouldn’t be drawn on whether his defeat was an end to his career in public life.