Long serving Offaly County Councillor announces intention to not contest Local Elections

A long serving Offaly County Councillor has announced his intention to not contest the Local Elections next year.

Cllr John Carroll, who has been a Public Representative for almost 40 years, has confirmed exclusively to The Midland Tribune that he will not be contesting the 2024 Local Elections.

John has been directly involved in politics for over 50 years. The first time he became politically engaged “was when I watched refugees coming South to escape the Northern pogroms in August 1969. In response to this myself and a number of like-minded people came together to raise funds for those beleaguered communities.”

His next public involvement as a political activist was getting directly involved in the campaign opposing Ireland's entry into the EEC (now the EU). John was concerned that Ireland's sovereignty, neutrality and fishing industry would be put at risk if it joined the EEC. The Referendum was held in May 1972 and 83% of Irish people voted to join.

Later that year John was involved in setting up the Michael Larkin Cumann of Sinn Féin.

“Part of the reason for establishing the Cumann,” he said, “was to raise awareness in a political way of the injustices being endured by Nationalists in the occupied six counties. This was done by distributing An Phoblacht / Republican News, organising public meetings, letters to local media, hosting commemorations and nourishing political engagement.”

His entry into electoral politics came in 1974 when he stood, unsuccessfully, as Sinn Féin’s candidate in that year's County Council election.

The following year John committed himself in a full-time capacity “to the Republican movement and the campaign of resistance to the British occupation of the six Counties” which led to his arrest in 1976 and a “six years sojourn as a Political Prisoner in Portlaoise Prison.”

He told the Tribune that he used his time in prison to develop competency in the Irish language and pursue his education. He spent much of his time reading and studying the writings of “the great revolutionaries to ensure this phase of republican revolution would end in success.” This was after enduring a 47 day hunger strike which led to improved conditions that allowed greater access to books and education material.

On his release in 1982 John immediately returned to the Republican movement to support the campaign for a “32 County Socialist Republic,” a project which included revitalising the Michael Larkin Cumann. Once again, John pointed out, he was to the forefront in “building a political platform to ensure the Republican voice was heard.”

Standing as the Sinn Féin candidate in the European elections in 1984 for the Leinster region, John changed his name by deed poll to “John Carroll Sinn Féin” to ensure his party's name would appear on the Ballot paper. During this time he was denied access to the airwaves to promote his candidacy “due to censorship via Section 31 of the 1960 Broadcasting Act, a censorship which continued into the early '90s denying equality of opportunity to Sinn Féin candidates and their elected representatives.”

In 1985, John as an SF candidate, again under the name “John Carroll Sinn Féin”, was elected to Birr Urban District Council, a seat he retained for Sinn Féin until 1997 and thereafter as an Independent until the abolition of the Town Councils in 2014.

“I had the privilege of being the first citizen of Birr in 2005/6 and 2013/14,” he remarked, “when I was Cathaoirleach of the Town Council.” He has also held the role of the Cathaoirleach of Birr Municipal District on two occasions.

In 1987 he was the flag bearer for Sinn Fein in that year’s General Election, the first contested by the party after the removal in 1986 of the policy of abstention (not taking seats) from Leinster House. “This was a time,” he continued, “when the seeds of the Peace Process were being nourished, a process which I actively promoted over the following 10 years.”

He was the SF candidate again in the General Election in 1992 and also in the County Council elections in 1991. “While I was unsuccessful in securing a seat,” he remarked, “it was a fundamental part of the Peace Process, building a political structure and having the Republican analysis of the conflict heard.
“I parted ways with Sinn Féin in 1997 but continued my political involvement as an Independent and immersed myself in local initiatives and projects.” He was elected to Offaly County Council as well as retaining his seat on Birr Town Council in the 2004 Local elections.

Attending an AGM of Birr swimming pool in 1998 where a decision to close was on the table, John with three others took on the responsibility of keeping it open. He volunteered as Chair of the Board, invited two others onto the Board and so commenced a 23 year journey with that core group and a couple of others, “during which time we transformed a run-down Swimming Pool into a modern Leisure Centre with over €3.5 million capital investment secured from the Department of Sport and Tourism, Offaly County Council, Sports Capital, Birr Town Council, Rural Development Funding (Leader) and Community contributions."

Promotion of the Irish language has been “a passion” for John over the years and he has been instrumental with others “of equal passion” in the establishment of a Naoinra (All Irish Preschool) in 2011 and the multi-denominational, co-ed Gaelscoil in 2015 - Gaelscoil na Laochra - which will move into a brand new school building in the new year. With Biorra le Gaeilge John is constantly involved in the organisation of events where Irish as a language can be promoted and celebrated. John was recently successful in his campaign to have Offaly County Council appoint a person who will be responsible for promoting the Irish language within the Council and ensuring compliance with their responsibilities to the Irish language. Provision was made in the 2024 Budget for this post.

He served on the Board of Offaly VEC from 2004 until its dissolution and has been a member of its successor LOETB since its inception and was Cathaoirleach from February 2017 to September 2019.

He has had a continuous involvement in the life and affairs of his local village, Crinkle, and was instrumental in establishing a Development committee over 20 years ago which led to a very active Tidy Villages Committee; but his greatest involvement was in the Handball Club which has morphed into a successful Sport and Recreational Centre catering for a variety of sporting and recreational needs but at all times fostering the game of Handball in a fully refurbished facility.

As a founding member of Birr 20:20 Vision, and present secretary of the Company, John is immensely proud of what they have achieved in bringing co-operation among the different sections of the Birr community, including carrying out a number of studies on the Courthouse, Festivals, the River Camcor, Anaerobic Digestion etc. He believes that having Birr 20:20 Vision in the community will lead to greater social, economic and cultural benefits for Birr.

He says being elected unanimously as the Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council in 2020 was the pinnacle of his political career. Although public engagements were curtailed due to Covid he got considerable satisfaction in guiding the County Development Plan to fruition in spite of having to preside over most of the critical meetings on line.

“I am mindful of the cost to my family because of my political involvement and I will be forever grateful to Carmel and my family for their loyalty and support over many years of political activism. Life as a Public Representative, a farmer and family person has ensured a busy but fulfilling life and while stepping away from representational politics I have no plans to disengage from community involvement and will be there when and where I can make a contribution. Having exceeded three score and ten years, I believe it is time to make way for the next generation and I hope someone with similar values will step forward for the Local Elections on June 7th next and provide strong local representation for this area.

“It has been a wonderful experience to have been directly involved in initiating, shaping, developing and implementing processes that enhanced the lives of our communities, and, during that journey, meeting and working with some fantastic like-minded people. It is what good memories are made of and I am forever thankful to those who helped and supported me over the years.”