Mixed Reaction As Joe Sullivan Leaves Fianna Fail

The fallout from Councillor Joe Sullivan's decision to leave the Fianna Fail party continues this week.

The Gorey representative made the announcement on Friday after he stepped down as the chairman of Wexford County Council.

He told South East Radio that he felt he hadn't been supported by his party colleagues in a number of areas, particularly to do with the Mercosur trade deal, Triple Lock and recent fuel protests.

Former councillor Willie Kavanagh served alongside Councillor Sullivan in both the main chamber and the Gorey Kilmuckridge Municipal District. 

He felt Joe made the wrong decision in this case.

"I was very disappointed for Councillor Sullivan to state he never got any support from his colleagues.

"I spent 9 years on the council and any support I ever needed was always coming from my colleagues and Fianna Fail bench.

"Joe should realise that he wouldn't even been in the chair without the support of his colleagues last year who helped to put him into the big important job as the chairman of the Council."

Councillor Sullivan named fellow councillors Donal Kenny and Pip Breen as well as local TD Malcolm Byrne is his farewell speech, highlighting what he felt was a lack of support from his colleagues.

Mr Kavanagh said in his opinion, support is a two way street and accused Councillor O'Sullivan of not living up to his end of the bargain:

"I've spoken to some of my former colleagues and they say Joe never attended any party meetings prior to the council meetings for the last year.

"So how can he can expect to get support if he's not co-operating with his colleagues?"

Someone who has walked a similar road to Councillor Sullivan is New Ross Councillor Michael Sheehan.

He also stepped away from Fianna Fail in 2024 after working for the party in some capacity for 25 years.

Now working as an Independent, Councillor Sheehan sympathised with Councillor Sullivan's decision as Fianna Fail is not the same party it was.

"You can see how well they're doing at just 14 per cent in the polls.

"Poor Joe after a lifetime of service had no other option.

"There were groups of councillors going after him the whole year long since he took over as chair.

"It just seemed like an ongoing campaign to get him out of it and do the man under.

"My heart breaks for him because I know that's not an easy decision to make and he really felt he had no other options but to go."

While some felt the decision was a long time coming, it remained a shock when the news dropped at last Friday's AGM of Wexford County Council which was attended by Deputy Byrne and Housing Minister James Browne.

Regarding Councillor Sullivan's assertion of a lack of support, Councillor Sheehan said he was not surprised at the lack of warmth between the main players.

"Even reading the body language, I was disappointed that the Minister or Deputy Byrne didn't have the courtesy to go over and shake his and say 'well done for your year'.

"They did on RTE but they didn't do it in the council chamber so I guess that's just a mark of the man".

Some felt the announcement took a little of the shine off Lisa McDonald's election to the chair as just the fourth woman ever to hold the position.

She had clashed with Councillor Sullivan previously but said his decision might be the best one for both parties:

"On a personal level, I don't have any gripe with Joe.

"From a Fianna Fail perspective, to use a marriage breakdown analogy, it's a bit like a long separation.

"Those long separations which slowly eke out, they usually lead to divorces on consent and we saw a divorce on consent on Friday.

"Usually they lead to relief for both parties."

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.

To hear more about this story, listen in to our Local Democracy Reporter Aidan Delaney's package below: