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LAST UPDATE | 6 Oct 2023
FORMER LABOUR LEADER and current Wexford TD Brendan Howlin has announced he will not be contesting the next general election.
Howlin has been a TD for the Wexford constituency since 1987 and served as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2011 to 2016.
He had led the party since 2016, when he took over from Burton. He was succeeded by Tipperary TD Alan Kelly. Ivana Bacik is the current Labour leader.
Howlin announced in March 2020 that he would resign as leader following the outcome of the last general election.
Labour had failed to capitalise in the 2020 election which saw voters move further to left and put Sinn Féin out in front as the biggest party.
Howlin’s party had secured just six seats with some of its more prominent parliamentary figures, including Joan Bruton and Jan O’Sullivan, losing their seats.
He has been a TD for the Wexford constituency since 1987 and served as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform from 2011 to 2016.
Howlin’s constituency is among those facing redrawn boundaries after the Electoral Commission recommended splitting the county and Wicklow into three constituencies. Howlin’s base will be a four-seater and a new Wicklow/Wexford constituency is due to contain three seats.
In a statement announcing his plans not to run in the next general election, Howlin said: “It has been and remains the privilege of my life to have represented my beloved Wexford in nine consecutive Dáileanna.
“I am forever grateful for the support I have received for almost four decades from the Wexford people and the wonderful members of the Labour Party. I remember those friends and comrades who have passed on down the years whose loyalty and fellowship I will always treasure.”
He added that he’s aware “the business of government and public representation is never done”.
“We still have many major challenges to overcome as a people – providing houses for all, eliminating poverty and creating true equality,” Howlin said.
“After the next general election that task will fall to others,” he said.
“For my part I will continue to work to the best of my ability for all Wexford people. I will also do all that I can to ensure that our great county continues to be served by a Labour TD in the decades to come.”
Speaking to South East Radio this morning, Howlin said he has “given his life to politics” and that he has done so with “great happiness”.
“It was all consuming because to do what I’ve done for four decades requires you to be on the job, if you like, 24/7, always.”
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has paid tribute to Howlin and said his “record of public service is enormously impressive”.
“Brendan has been at the heart of the Labour Party through many of the party’s defining eras and has contributed massively to improving Irish society,” Bacik said.
“A life-long trade unionist who campaigned on progressive issues including marriage equality and abortion rights, long before they were popular, his commitment, strategic insight, wit and laser-like focus will be greatly missed from national politics,” she said.
Bacik said that “throughout his parliamentary career he has been a campaigner for justice, equality, transparency, and accountability”.
“They say that a week is a long time in politics, but after forty years, Brendan has done the State and his beloved Wexford some service,” she said.
‘One of the architects of Ireland’s banking crisis recovery’
The current Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe paid tribute to Howlin today.
He said that the politician has done the State “such considerable service across his more than 40 years in politics”.
“As the first Minister in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, he was instrumental in shaping the Department into what it is today. His time in this Department was marked by the many very difficult decisions he had to make in the country’s interest to get our finances back under control.
“He worked hand in glove with Minister Michael Noonan during one of Ireland’s most difficult periods, and for that we owe him a debt of gratitude,” Donohoe said.
He added that he has always found Howlin to be “an excellent work colleague”, and someone “whose opinion I valued”.
“He has worked tirelessly for the people of Wexford, as well as the rest of the country, and he will be seen as one of the architects of our recovery from the global financial crisis. I wish him and his family all the very best for the future,” Donohoe added.
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Is this a suprise to anyone ?
The sign of a good government is not what it can do abroad, it’s the conditions of its own people at home that show it can get its own house in order. At the moment there is a lot of discontent among its people. We currently have the two main parties working in unison and the unrest among the people hasn’t been seen since the civil war. MM said he didn’t accept the criticism from the protestors because he feels we are in a better place than ever before and I believe he is in denial with that statement and that’s scary. Tis worrying times for our little country and its great people.
end of road is near for ffg the wheels have fallen off every can their kicking down the road at this stage,local Irish are emigrating in droves, as local big town in munster absolutely flooded with non Irish shocked yesterday
Not just road units but they’re the ones who rake in the dollars
Shame on them.
Shortages everywhere.
A first world country with third world services at best.
They just do not care.
I love my country its my government I hate.
Shame on them .
I’m afraid there’s a new scandal everyday for FFG, they really have taken their eye off the ball and are continuing to focus on matters abroad. Palestine, trying to be the big lad in the EU Commission, the moral super power of the world and us hundreds of Billions in debt.
They are spending like teenagers that got their first wage packet. As Tommy Tiernan said ‘Money doesn’t suit us’. We are a tiny little island trying to punch way above our weight.
@Dogg: “they have taken their eye off the ball” you say….when have they ever had their eye on the ball ? Only to line their own pockets !
@Dogg: Sinn Fein/provos would sort all this in no time at all.
Is there anything there clowns in government have done right besides lining their own and their cronies pockets, health,gardai,defence etc ,all understaffed,
@Brian Molloy: they built a fairly decent bike shelter recently
Spend some of the ‘kerching’ from those speed vans and pay for more staff.
Drew Harris has been a total disaster by all accounts. Martin, Harris,McEntee etc should be dragged in front of an Oireachtas committee to explain their incompetence.
Can’t ‘civilians’ be trained into certain jobs and procedures like accident investigation???
@Athena: ite a response unit …. meaning they would have to be a fully qualified Garda first to be able to drive using lights and sirens to a road fatality….. also they need to be a member so they can preserve the chain of evidence and the crash scene in case it turns into a criminal case …..
@and the hit’s just keep coming: they shouldn’t be driving. We have police helicopters that could take them the majority of the way. Expecting one expert to travel to the other end of the country is farcical and typical of us Irish. Our public sector management are an utter farce.
@and the hit’s just keep coming: don’t need to be a gard to drive a car with lights and sirens .. fire brigade, ambulance etc . in terms of chain of custody .. I’ll point you to the forensic crime lab in kildare .. not staffed by AGS !! absolutely could be filled by a civilian competition .. in the article it states that the comp was discontinued as standards of those that applied (all garda applicants) were not meant. There is a mathematical aptitude element of the application this is most likely what is being referenced here. note the GRA didn’t say they needed more Gards assigned .. just more forensic investigators ..! MANAGEMENT are also allergic to increasing the amount of these people as because they are not Gards they don’t have the same control over them. MANAGMENT DONT LIKE THAT!
and roma knacks roaming the streets to stab people
Why ain’t arsenal on the fkcimg tv??disgusting and Rte needs investigation
@Basildon Joe: Amazon Prime have the rights. Football has truly sold its soul when they put such a massive game behind a pay wall
@Danny O’Mahony: I give up Danny they are shitters doing that to the working man
@Basildon Joe: down with your British garbage,back to Essex for it
@Basildon Joe: any self-respecting Basildon Joe would have a dodgy box
Something fundamentally wrong eith jow the public service performs . The leadership of state bodies seem to play musical chairs. One is as incompetent as the other.
It’s clear there’s a crisis in policing. Harris needs to go, and a tough law and order policy be implemented.
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