General Election: 'No regrets' for Frank O’Donnell as he exits the stage

Frank O’Donnell insists he has no regrets following his participation in the general election as an independent candidate.

The former Chair of the Michael Collins/ Dr McGinley branch of Fine Gael in the county made the decision only weeks ago to leave the party and having let his options potter around his mind, decided to run having discussed the matter at home.

“It wasn’t locally,” he said of his disillusionment with the party. “I made my mind up to leave. They asked me to stay on and I felt Dublin weren’t even going to listen to me. I was going to walk away. But I spoke to my family and decided to run.

“I’ll have to think about it. I can’t answer that now, honestly. Me running was a statement. I thought I would make a bigger statement. But I made a statement. I have no regrets for running.

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Bowing out on the fifth count with a total of 337 votes, O’Donnell, who has been involved in local politics for 41 years, hasn’t decided whether or not he will continue, although closer to home is the likeliest avenue.

“I’m disappointed but I have no regrets about doing it. If I didn’t do it I would have always regretted it. I’ve tested the waters now and there will always be a local election in me. I would go again in a local election.

“It’s a learning curve. I’ve tested the water before in the local election in 1994. This time I’d say I encountered a lot of unseen problems people are having and they do not know how to address them. I was hoping to get elected for those people, vulnerable people and people with mental health issues. I was hoping to get elected so I could highlight these issues and not just for myself”.