Galway County Councillor James Charity has confirmed that he does not intend to stand in next year’s local elections, and will be retiring as a Councillor at the end of his current term.
Charity, who stands as an Independent for the local electoral area of Athenry – Oranmore, has sat on the county council for a decade since first standing in the 2014 elections.
Announcing his retirement on Saturday morning, he said that he feels he has achieved all he can for his area at the local government level.
“10 years ago, I announced my intention to run in the 2014 Local Elections for Galway County Council with the aim of giving a voice to the community I live in, to provide for absent local infrastructure, and to ensure a fair delivery of council budget funding to an area that had been left behind for far too long.”
“Two elections and a decade on, in excess of €5 million in funding has been secured from various budgets and funding streams for investment in the locality, 2 new dedicated playgrounds have been built, new pedestrian crossings and footpaths have been provided, while existing infrastructure has been repaired and improved, additional school buses were secured, and public bus services were both restored and expanded to areas that have never been serviced on a public bus route before.”
Charity said that remaining priorities of his such as the upgrade of the N84 and the Claregalway Bypass can only be achieved with significant funding from the central government.
This would require local TDs to secure their inclusion in a Programme for Government he said.
Charity said that he has not ruled out returning to politics at some stage “either as a candidate or perhaps more likely in support of one”, adding that national politics “requires change to be firstly achieved from within”.
“For now, I am looking forward to spending more time with my wife Fiona and new daughter Ellie, as well as focusing on my legal career and business interests.”
He thanked the voters who placed their faith in him over the years, along with his family who supported him, and all those supporters who have volunteered their time at elections.
