From the 2007 General election, John Kelly running as an Independent in Roscommon-South Leitrim. John Kelly was recently unveiled as a recruit to the Labour Party.
“Imagine an Independent candidate with the balance of power in Your Area” writes Kelly.
Backed by the Hospital Action Committee he polled over 4,500 votes. In the 2009 local elections Valerie Byrne and Paula McNamara both polled over 1000 votes running for the Hospital Action Committee.
There was no Labour candidate in the 2009 local election in Roscommon and one, John Feely in Carrick On Shannon who polled just 285 votes.
It will be interesting to see if Kelly can build on his 2007 vote.
Irish Election Literature 
[…] incompatible with the PDs. In 2010 she joined the Labour Party. Another councillor to do so was John Kelly in neighbouring […]
John Kelly is very good at sitting on the wall and on his hands when it comes to real issues in helping persons in his community when the contention is about getting votes on his own behalf, not rocking the boat when he has most to gain and he feels that this or that person will never come to public acknowledgement or in the gaze of the media in any way.
When he has most to gain and he does not care as long as he gains most for himself. This is the way he treated me before the last council election where he ran as an independent. He may well have got the biggest margin but by majority he has the biggest obligation to live up to get to where he is aiming at and that is a Seat as a TD in the next Labour Government.
Sitting on his hands once again and siding possibly with those that wish to build and operate a refuse disposal midway between Ballaghadereen and Frenchpark where similar projects in the UK nearly always have serious planning consents refused and in other parts of Ireland. Here is Roscommon we can bring the most damage to the environment as we emphasize how small the idea is but we hope to grow larger possibly as we destroy a whole community our young children’s lives and blight the whole communities lives for miles around.
It is great to bleat and write terrific spreads into the local papers on various issues that may be in the Public eye at the time that the News item is going to press. It is much harder with a huge majority of a vote. To balance that fine plank or tight rope that we are walking and the question is do I help this individual or not and how many votes could I lose in the Next Election or do I make a gain if I do not help them at all and the same goes for this or that project that is on the agenda.
Do I help them or do I sit on the wall. Sure who will know really for sure what my manifesto really is and I will always win the day with many new bleatings when it is closer to election time and I can send into the papers many new and varied contentious ideas that raises me up on an ever higher pedestal and the people at that point will have forgotten all about this waste disposal plant and I will side with the winning side , but for now I can sit on the fence
[…] A flyer from recent Labour recruit John Kelly.Introducing himself as a Labour Party man and also welcoming Eamon Gilmore to Roscommon. John Kellys 2007 Flyer when running as an Independent. […]