An Independent star
TD WATCH/Finian McGrath: Simon Community Volunteer, primary school principal and You're a Star finalist. Mary Regan profiles the Independent whose song and dance could secure him a lot more votes
'When I speak about poverty, I speak as someone who worked for the Simon Community for years, when I speak about educational disadvantage, I speak as a principal from an inner city primary school. This is living what you talk about in the Dáil." The Independent TD for Dublin North Central, Finian McGrath, thinks a new type of politics is emerging. He says the electorate wants politicians who live the issues and not just talk about them. And there is no one doing this better than the independents: "Gerry Cowley is doing it for the people of Mayo, Tony Gregory is doing it for Dublin's inner city and I'm doing it for people in the north side. The political parties just don't do community politics as well as independents can."
It was his campaigning on these "community issues" that got McGrath the support he needed to win a seat in the last general election on his third time trying. He had stood for the Dáil in 1992 and again in 1997. But his real political breakthrough came in 2002 when, as a Dublin City Councillor, he drew considerable support for his opposition to Dublin Port Tunnel and the proposed infill development of parts of Dublin Bay.
He decided to contest the election as part of the Independent Health Alliance, despite being asked by Sinn Féin a number of times to run for them. He says he still gets asked "every second day" to join some political party, Fianna Fáil and Labour being the most interested. But he says to join a party now would be a betrayal to those who voted for him: "If I was elected an independent then I should stay an independent".
His constituency has a good record of voting for well-known independents, with Noel Browne who was elected twice as an Independent, and Sean Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus among his predecessors. He says he would like to "continue that tradition of these two great independents in Dublin North Central".
McGrath moved to Dublin from his native Galway 25 years ago. He started working as a school teacher in Dorset Street at a time when Dublin was suffering with problems of heroin, high unemployment and poverty. He became involved with the Simon Community and campaigned against educational disadvantage. He soon began to work with Tony Gregory, who inspired him to enter politics: "I saw that Tony managed to squeeze 80 million out of the Government for social housing and education. I was working on the same problems he was working on and the more groups I got involved with in the north side, the more my work became politicised."
Four sitting TDs and a Senator are fighting it out for just three seats in his constituency in the next General Election. Out of the four already there, he seemed, until now, to be the likely loser among a group of household names. Richard Bruton, the deputy leader of Fine Gael, Ivor Callely, a Fianna Fáil junior minister, and Fianna Fail's Seán Haughey are all competing for seats there.
"I'm up against the three heavyweights and the three millionaires," says McGrath, "I have to contest with huge money, huge resources and huge power." But he has recently had the fortune of receiving the sort of publicity that money can't buy, after appearing in the final of RTÉ's You're a Star Charity Special.
He says he took a "huge risk" in entering the show: "I didn't want to damage my position as a member of the Oireachtas, but in the end it was worth it". He has gone from a little known TD to something of a celebrity. The Independent is expected to be as successful in his votes for the next general election as he was in the song contest, and could very easily, once again, be among the people's favourites.