*Mike Taylor. Photograph: Martin Connolly
FINE GAEL member Mike Taylor as stepped down as the parliamentary assistant of Clare TD, Violet-Anne Wynne (IND).
Taylor’s appointment as PA of the Clare TD caused a stir in November 2022 seeing as nine months earlier he led the call for her resignation when he stated, “the circus that has unfolded in Clare over the last two years since the Deputy was elected has completely distracted from the serious issues at hand in the constituency. Another day another sideshow, two years of ridicule. The best thing now would be for the Deputy to step aside”.
Mike’s decision to move on means he is the third PA of Deputy Wynne’s to step aside in the space of four years. The duo have left on “excellent terms” according to Taylor, they ironically competed against each other in the 2019 local elections with both eliminated on the fifth count in the Kilrush LEA.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, twenty five year old Mike said, “Sometimes it’s times for a new challenge, I’ve been involved in politics for a very long time while I don’t intend to not be involved in politics but it is time for a new challenge, I’m proud of what we accomplished, we put a lot of pressure to bear on Colette Cowan which is to be lauded, we started a serious conversation about reinstating Ennis A&E, it is great to see so many political candidates and elected representatives now finally backing the decision for so long after not doing so”.
Reflecting on the experience of working as a parliamentary assistant, Mike said, “It was interesting and different, I’ve never been coming from the opposition side before so it was important to take a constructive approach”. He added, “It was a very interesting experience, it highlighted to me an electorate or constituents that the Fine Gael vote or my vote would have missed over the years”.
Opting to leave now rather than waiting to assist Deputy Wynne in preparing for a General Election has been flagged as strange timing in political circles. “I’m not jumping before the ship sinks,” he stressed. A Fine Gael member since 2011, he said rumours had circulated that he was tipped to be a special advisor in Government buildings but have been put to bed, The Clare Echo was unaware of these reports.
Mike said, “The General Election now is eleven months out as opposed to when Leo was Taoiseach and it could have been next week or next month, when you’re always working to a moving deadline you’re never really comfortable”. He continued, “now a line has been drawn in the sand, the Taoiseach has said it will be next March when he have a General Election and I can leave comfortable that she can build a rapport with new PA”.
He added, “we made history, from now on non-aligned Independent TDs will have guaranteed speaking time in the Dáil which didn’t exist up until now”.
Simon Harris (FG) succeeding Leo Varadkar (FG) as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader was welcomed by Mike who attended the party’s Ard Fhéis in Galway this month.
“I was in Leinster House the day Leo resigned, Kate O’Connell said that it was a dark period for her, I wouldn’t put it like that for me, the party isn’t the leader and the leader isn’t the party, my rift with Leo is well documented by yourself, it is there and plain to see. I know Simon for ten years, he offers a new face and a new energy, we worked together a lot, we worked in his previous portfolio and were tag teaming on working to make sure when Green Atlantic lands in Moneypoint that Clare based graduates are skilled enough to get those jobs”. He said he hopes to welcome the Wicklow man to Clare very shortly. “It is great to see young and diverse candidates stepping up and feeling they can be a voice in their community. I’ve never been clearer in my view that we should have term limits for councillors, maybe that is a conversation that we need to have, we need to think about refreshing politics, I mean no disrespect to guys that are there for forty years but it kills the pipeline coming after them”.
He said, “I look forward to having a conversation with Simon at some point, he is a busy man but I expect to have a chat with him soon”.
Speaking following the 2019 local election, Mike had been adamant that he was keen to go forward again in 2024 but such a scenario is “absolutely not” going to happen, he admitted. “It is far too close to the local election for me to be considering it, I wouldn’t do it to my family in the first instance, I had them withered in 2019. There is no harm in saying that a couple of things need a refresh, this year might not be the year to do that but I’ll never stop working and doing what I can do, I have done a lot locally with the Loop Head Together Group”.
On his next move, Mike said is at “the end of contract negotiations” so had to stay tight-lipped on where he is headed but committed to canvassing with Fine Gael candidates who he is friendly with in Swords and Athenry.
