BANKRUPT CAMPAIGNER Jillian Godsil is running in the European Elections for Ireland South following the laws being scrapped that barred declared bankrupts from contesting Dáil and European elections.
Godsil had launched a constitutional challenge in court in a bid to run in this year’s local and European elections.
At the end of February, after a long financial battle which resulted in her losing her home, she was declared bankrupt in Ireland.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, she said that she was shocked to hear that once she was bankrupt she could not run for election, stating that it was another “bad law” associated with insolvency, which is why she said she felt she had to change the law somehow.
Law
“It comes from British law that dates way back that states that a ‘man’ has to have property to contest an election, which just doesn’t work well anymore,” said Godsil.
She said she was delighted to be referred to by Senator David Norris in relation to the change of the law, which came in effect at the beginning of this month.
He said: “If anybody deserves a second chance and if anybody deserves a chance to run, this woman does. She is very brave and courageous and I wish her well.”
She said she hopes to use the platform and voice she has been given to represent other people like herself who have lost their homes, stating that people should not be ashamed when they have lost everything.
“It’s not right that we live in a society that puts people out of their homes and on to the street. I want to shine a light on what is happening here in Ireland in Europe,” said Godsil.
“I am not a politician. I will go and do what I set out to do and come home,” she said, adding that she has “proven that a nobody can change things. I raised the issue of bankrupt people not being able to run and the laws were changed, I think that is impressive,” she said.
Godsil said she hopes that people who have been declared bankrupt or lost their homes get representation in Europe, saying that she will be an ordinary person there if she is elected, asking the questions that ordinary people want answers to.
“I have nothing to lose and I think that can make me powerful in Europe, I’m not afraid to be a whistleblower,” she said, adding:
“I think I can get a lot more done that stuffed shirts from the parties – I’m just an ordinary person.”
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