Longford county councilor Gerry Warnock calls a halt after 10 years on county council

Frustration at the progress of local improvement projects and a general disillusionment in local politics are the primary motivations for independent councillor Gerry Warnock's decision not to put his name on the ballot paper next June.
Cllr Warnock announced his decision on social media last week: “It's something that's been on my mind for the last 12 to 18 months,” he told the Leader, “I've been mulling it over a very, very long time now. As it was getting that closer to the hustings I knew I was going to have to make a decision. I wanted to make a decision far enough out from the election to let somebody else have a crack at it.”

First co-opted onto Longford Town Council in 2011, Cllr Warnock followed in his father Christy's footsteps. Gerry was elected to Longford County Council on his first attempt in 2014 and served as Cathaoirleach during that term. He was then re-elected in 2019

He says he's put a lot of consideration into the decision: “I took it under careful consideration. I had a lot of conversations with my father and my wife Rachel, getting their advice.”

The independent councillor puts his choice to not seek re-election down to being “disillusioned with politics” on a local level: “I was getting very frustrated with the whole set up locally. It's so hard, so protracted, to get from A to B. I think it's getting harder over the last couple of years, particularly since COVID, to try and progress anything. Then you're seeing your town taking a nose dive nearly by the week.”

Cllr Warnock is pulling the shutters on his role as a councillor with no intention of returning: “I definitely would rule it out when it comes to local government. I don't go back. I've hit every peak I could hit at the local level, holding the post of Cathaoirleach as an independent.”

Bowing out in 2024 comes as Irish society experiences an unfamiliar volatility: “Over the last number of years, I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with politics here in Ireland. Politics should provide a space where the welfare of the citizen is paramount, and politicians should aspire to continuously enhance the quality of life for those citizens.
“In my view this is not happening, and we are witnessing a divisiveness in society that I have not encountered before. I believe that this can be directly attributed to government who have dropped the ball on the ‘bread and butter’ issues (such as housing, health, law and order and unsustainable migration policy), in favour of a weak form of politics branded as being ‘progressive’ where “spin over substance” appears to be the order of the day,” he said.
A tilt at the Dáil is another kettle of fish: “I still left the whole national thing on the table. That's something that I may consider further down the road. For the last 13 years, I've put my career on hold. So now, for the first time in 13 years, I have options.”

Despite his decision to walk away, Cllr Warnock says his time in politics has been gratifying: “It has been a privilege serving the people of Longford and particularly Longford town. At the end of the day I enjoyed every bit of it. I loved representing people. I love trying to get a few things across the line. And look, it wasn't all doom and gloom.”

“There were more highs than lows. When things were going well, you got to deliver a lot, like some of the bigger projects, but I just felt that everything had stagnated in the last few years.”
His future plans are yet to be fully formulated. “I'm just going to be happy now, just to take a little break and get outside of the fishbowl for a while and look in,” Cllr Warnock concluded.