Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)

I compliment the three people who took the court action to have this legislation amended. Mr. King, Mr. Cooney and Mr. Riordan deserve our thanks. If matters were left to the Government, there is no way it would have introduced any type of legislation which would have made life easier for Independent candidates.

The Bill is welcome and it will, to a degree, eliminate the cumbersome procedure involved in Independent candidates having themselves nominated. I live 20 miles from Galway in which the headquarters of the county council is located and where I have to present myself with my team to get my nomination papers in order. The whole procedure involves hiring a bus, travelling the 20 miles, getting the 30 people to take a day off work, lining up like a herd of cattle in the local authority offices and waiting for other candidates to go through the system and vacate the premises before one can be attended to. It is absolutely ridiculous and the Minister who introduced such a provision should have been locked up on the grounds that he or she did not deserve to be part of the political system.

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