Elected first as a Westmeath county councillor for Fianna Fáil in 1999, he has been a member of the council since. Now an Independent, he left Fianna Fáil in 2011 and has contested both a general election and a by-election unsuccessfully. He is running as part of the Independent Alliance and is involved with a number of local organisations in his area.

I am a hard working, independent voice who is not afraid to stand up for the people I represent as I genuinely care about their needs.

Jobs. So that people have the opportunity to work in the place that they were born and bred if they so wish.

I would like to have the decision to downgrade the army structure in the constituency reversed and that 500 extra troops are recruited.