EXCLUSIVE: 'Phenomenal' - Brendan Wyse on local councillor election win in Clane

Councillor Brendan Wyse was re-elected today, receiving over 20 per cent of the vote in Clane.

The Fine Gael candidate was the first candidate to be elected in the Clane local electoral area, securing 1,986 votes in the first count. It is the second time Wyse has been elected to represent the area, having previously secured his spot in the 2019 local elections.

Wyse was grateful for the high turnout of supporters, admitting that the first time, they had just "given me a chance".

"The first time they gave me a chance, and I was a new councillor and I gave them everything I could for the five years, and I kind of hoped at the end of it that if I had worked hard for enough people, that they'd recognise that, and give me what I was lucky enough today, to get me in again" Wyse said. 

Asked about how he felt that the people of Clane had put their faith in him again, Wyse added that the support was "phenomenal".

"I just couldn't believe it," he said. "I was really hopeful, because I was going door to door, I was talking to people, and they were saying "you helped me out with this or that". So to see them actually turn out and do that for me was great, they are the people I've been helping over five years". 

"It's just great to see that they turned out and backed me for it when I needed it the most. For the first two or three years, I had to learn the ropes and figure out the run of things. But now for the next term, I'm ready to go even harder, because I know how to get stuff done in the council, now that I'm confident in how to go and approach the task at hand."

Touching on his future plans as councillor, Wyse added that he was "really looking forward to the next phase".

"With that support behind me from the community that have their faith me, I can achieve a lot. One of the major things over the last five years was the Allenwood Playground in Clane. That opened recently, it took a while to deliver, but it was worth it.

"We also have plans for the Grand Canal path in our area, and a greenway that we're going to put in all the way from Dublin, that should happen in the next five years. As well as that, we're going to need links into all the villages so that people can walk and cycle safely to, and that's a key priority for me.

Adding to his list of priorities, Wyse said: "I also made an election promise to people, we have an old heritage building, it's a castle on Carbury Hill. I tried to get funding for that the last time to start a conservation project of that, and I failed. So I said I'm going to commit to putting the local property tax towards starting that restoration project.

"I'm going to do up a list of priorities that I think I should deliver in regards to the villages and smaller projects over the next month or so. I can then focus on delivering them within the next five years while also doing other small jobs in between".

Asked about the results of the FIne Gael party nationwide in the local and European elections this week, Wyse said he did not "have any fear of failure from Fine Gael councillors".

"I know from working with them that we are all doing work on the ground. I think that no matter what the national opinion is, when it comes to a local election it's all about who is working in the area, and I know that myself and my colleagues were actually doing the work. 

With Fine Gael initially pulling ahead in the polls, Wyse added that he was "glad to see it". 

"When I was canvassing, some people have told me that they wouldn't be Fine Gael supporters, but they know that I work in the community, and in the locals, that matters more. If the Fine Gael figure is high that's because the Fine Gael people are working with communities".