P.D. Councillor Tony Williams to run as Independent in Pembroke - Rathmines

[Gordon Bennett]

The following email was sent to Dublin South East PD's, past and present, by Councillor Tony Williams today:
You can check out his website here :

Tony Williams

Good Afternoon All,

I am sending this email to each of you as members (or perhaps in some cases former members) of the Progressive Democrats in Dublin South East to ask if you would be willing to assist me if I were to put myself forward as a candidate in the Dublin City Local Election on 5th June next.

As many of you are aware, I was recently co-opted onto Dublin City Councillor to be a Progressive Democrat Councillor in succession to John Kenny, who had himself been co-opted in 2007 to replace Wendy Hederman, who originally won the seat so well in the 2004 Local Election.

Since my co-option I have been asked by many people, both from within the Party and without, whether I will be running as a candidate in the Local Election on 5th June.

When I put my name forward to be co-opted it was genuinely not with a view to my running in June however the number of enquiries (and some promises of assistance) which I have received have led me to look seriously at the idea.

As the Progressive Democrats will have officially ceased to exist by June 5th, I can confirm to you that, if I do run, it will be as an Independent Candidate and that I will not be joining any other political party. I genuinely believe that there is at present a strong public disaffection with all Political Parties and that Independent candidates will do well in this election. Those of you who know me well will know the values for which I stand and I hope you will share my belief that there is a place in Irish politics for my kind of Independent voice.

IS IT TOO LATE?

On the one hand, it might be suggested that, with less than 7 weeks to go until the election, it is somewhat late for me to launch a campaign.

I do not believe this to be the case and my experience as a candidate in the 2004 Local Election is that the voters really only sit up and pay attention to the candidates in the last 4 to 6 weeks of the campaign, particularly after the election posters go up. In addition, and by way of comparison, a General Election campaign usually only lasts a matter of weeks from the date the election is called until polling day.

In short, I think that it is certainly not too late for me to enter the race.

CAN I DO IT?

It might also be suggested that it would be difficult for me to run a successful campaign without the financial and organisational resources which were available to me as a Progressive Democrat candidate in 2004.

This is certainly a significant concern to me as, without the resources of the Party behind me, I will have to pay for this campaign out of my own personal funds and also organise it myself.

And this is where you all come in.

CAN YOU HELP?

I can, realistically, only run as a candidate if I have a team of people working with me who are willing to volunteer some of their time, however little, to assisting me. Can you offer me that assistance?

My campaign would involve, for example:

Weekday mornings and evenings canvassing at commuter locations such as Dart Stations / Luas Stations / Canal Bridges etc.

Weekend canvassing at public locations such as shopping centres, churches etc.

Weekday and weekend evenings canvassing door to door and leaflet delivering.

I am not looking for people to commit themselves to doing all of these things and I am not looking for people to commit themselves to assisting for the whole period of the campaign.

What I need to know is whether you would be willing to do any of these things, for whatever part of the campaign, so that I can work out whether there is enough assistance available to make it realistically feasible for me to run an effective election campaign with a genuine prospect of success.

It would be a short campaign, hopefully carried out in good weather conditions, and I think, for those of us who have the politics bug, that it would be a lot of fun.

I need to decide by the end of this week whether I will run or not and so I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond as soon as possible.

If you want to contact me by telephone, you can reach me at 086 8575440, otherwise please respond by email.

Many thanks,

Tony Williams.


This could potentially put the cat amongst the pigeons, as this is already shaping up to be a closely fought contest, and even though he may not stand much of a chance it has the potential to split some of the voting.

[David Cochrane]

The following email was sent to Dublin South East PD's, past and present, by Councillor Tony Williams today:
You can check out his website here :

Tony Williams

Good Afternoon All,

I am sending this email to each of you as members (or perhaps in some cases former members) of the Progressive Democrats in Dublin South East to ask if you would be willing to assist me if I were to put myself forward as a candidate in the Dublin City Local Election on 5th June next.

As many of you are aware, I was recently co-opted onto Dublin City Councillor to be a Progressive Democrat Councillor in succession to John Kenny, who had himself been co-opted in 2007 to replace Wendy Hederman, who originally won the seat so well in the 2004 Local Election.

Since my co-option I have been asked by many people, both from within the Party and without, whether I will be running as a candidate in the Local Election on 5th June.

When I put my name forward to be co-opted it was genuinely not with a view to my running in June however the number of enquiries (and some promises of assistance) which I have received have led me to look seriously at the idea.

As the Progressive Democrats will have officially ceased to exist by June 5th, I can confirm to you that, if I do run, it will be as an Independent Candidate and that I will not be joining any other political party. I genuinely believe that there is at present a strong public disaffection with all Political Parties and that Independent candidates will do well in this election. Those of you who know me well will know the values for which I stand and I hope you will share my belief that there is a place in Irish politics for my kind of Independent voice.

IS IT TOO LATE?

On the one hand, it might be suggested that, with less than 7 weeks to go until the election, it is somewhat late for me to launch a campaign.

I do not believe this to be the case and my experience as a candidate in the 2004 Local Election is that the voters really only sit up and pay attention to the candidates in the last 4 to 6 weeks of the campaign, particularly after the election posters go up. In addition, and by way of comparison, a General Election campaign usually only lasts a matter of weeks from the date the election is called until polling day.

In short, I think that it is certainly not too late for me to enter the race.

CAN I DO IT?

It might also be suggested that it would be difficult for me to run a successful campaign without the financial and organisational resources which were available to me as a Progressive Democrat candidate in 2004.

This is certainly a significant concern to me as, without the resources of the Party behind me, I will have to pay for this campaign out of my own personal funds and also organise it myself.

And this is where you all come in.

CAN YOU HELP?

I can, realistically, only run as a candidate if I have a team of people working with me who are willing to volunteer some of their time, however little, to assisting me. Can you offer me that assistance?

My campaign would involve, for example:

Weekday mornings and evenings canvassing at commuter locations such as Dart Stations / Luas Stations / Canal Bridges etc.

Weekend canvassing at public locations such as shopping centres, churches etc.

Weekday and weekend evenings canvassing door to door and leaflet delivering.

I am not looking for people to commit themselves to doing all of these things and I am not looking for people to commit themselves to assisting for the whole period of the campaign.

What I need to know is whether you would be willing to do any of these things, for whatever part of the campaign, so that I can work out whether there is enough assistance available to make it realistically feasible for me to run an effective election campaign with a genuine prospect of success.

It would be a short campaign, hopefully carried out in good weather conditions, and I think, for those of us who have the politics bug, that it would be a lot of fun.

I need to decide by the end of this week whether I will run or not and so I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond as soon as possible.

If you want to contact me by telephone, you can reach me at 086 8575440, otherwise please respond by email.

Many thanks,

Tony Williams.


This could potentially put the cat amongst the pigeons, as this is already shaping up to be a closely fought contest, and even though he may not stand much of a chance it has the potential to split some of the voting.

So a guy who got a seat off a guy who got a seat off a woman who lots of PDs at the time thought had *so much* potential wants to get the seat by election?

Srlsy?

Wendy Hederman ran in Premboke in 04, John Kenny ran in South East Inner City and Tony Williams ran in Rathmines - the trio were the Dublin South East PD (aka McDowell) babes.

Kenny got just over 300 votes, yet took Hederman's seat, and Williams, who did somewhat better has the seat now. What utter disregard and lack of respect for the voters of Pembroke (and Dublin South East) can there be - where this seat has been passed around like a prize and not just in one ward, but around three wards.

Does Williams represent the people who elected Hederman now? Did Kenny?

The reality is that almost all PD candidates ran as independents, but the most independent of them all, for themselves.

[Tressell]

The reality is that almost all PD candidates ran as indepedents, but the most independent of them all, for themselves.
__________________
A la Ciaran Cannon.

[jayblue]

strange that someone has concern spending there own money in 2009 as an indpendent but did not have the same problem in 2004 as an pd candidate. I think what is more appalling is that his fellow Clrs in Dublin City Council allowed this cooption to take place. If Tony does run one has to presume he his after the die hard FF protest vote, those FF voters who want to vote but not for FF this time. Sure we have out in Clondalkin the original Clr Colum Tyndall-Clr Ger Cullen-Clr Alan McGaughey - Clr Tony Delany now running for FG. It appears that some of the pd council seats were passed around

[Pauli]

A PD is a PD is a PD. Dont waste a vote.

[KingKane]

He's worried about spending his own money this time around? Sure won't the Sindo be writing weekly glowing articles between now and polling that will be worth their weight in chip fat. And is he running as a pro-government independent or anti-government one? Or a little bit of whatever you're having yourself.

[joemomma]

When I put my name forward to be co-opted it was genuinely not with a view to my running in June however the number of enquiries (and some promises of assistance) which I have received have led me to look seriously at the idea.

What on earth was it with a view to then? It's not like you get a free parking space for life after a month like in the Seanad.

[KingKane]

In all the hectic excitement this one passed me by. So it seems that Tony Williams decided to bow out from standing on this occasion.