A fistful of Dollard

Unusually for a politician who has been in the game for so long Labour Party stalwart and current Town Council Chairman Mick Dollard can still be seen walking the town, knocking on doors whether he is welcomed or not.Mick Dollard who has just finished a successful year as Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council is a larger than life character and councillor who aims to represent everyone 'whatever their social background or political colour'.'I know that there are people out there that wouldn"t drink my blood but that"s okay you can"t please everyone all the time,' laughed Mick.Despite his assertion that he is unpopular amongst some, the psychiatric nurse has topped the poll in the last 11 elections and is the second longest serving member of Mullingar Town Council after Frank McIntyre.Before he found his calling in the nursing profession Mick Dollard was an army man travelling on two overseas missions before the age of 18 and following in the footsteps of his father who served for 46 years.'I loved the army and it gave me some great chances,' said Mick. 'But most of the fellas that I was hanging about with and playing football with were all working at Loman"s and of course my sister Maureen was a nurse there and that started me thinking that I might like a career change,' he said.'So after doing the aptitude tests I was transferred from the Department of Defence to the Department of Health. That was back in the days when the department was directly accountable for services and the mistakes it made as opposed to the monster that we now call the HSE.'When I started nursing I became involved in the union and from there I started into politics. I was of a mind that I would try to change things from the inside and that is when I became involved with the Labour Party.'From there it was always my ambition to get onto the Town Council. There was myself and of course my long-time colleague Willie Penrose and it was decided within the party that there was only room for one of us at national level, I had my family and my nursing career and Penrose went on to become a TD and we have always worked very well together.'The Labour Party is holding its annual conference here next March and I think that is a nod to us. I really think though that myself and Penrose could run on any ticket and win, such is the relationship we have built up with the community over the years.'Next year I will have been 25 years on the council and only Frank McIntyre has served longer than I have. I would say that having our office open full time has been a big help to people and has drawn in a lot of votes for us.'Penrose and I were involved in giving solid advice on money and benefits longs before we had agencies like MABS or Citizens" Advice but of course we are delighted that they have been set up and as we can all see they are needed more now possibly than ever before.'Of all his political achievements to date Mick is particularly proud of his year as Cathaoirleach during which he strove to promote Mullingar.'This year Athlone will have prominence of course so during my year I thought that it was important to do everything that I could for Mullingar and to look after people from here with things like the Cathaoirleach Awards which I was really proud to have been involved with.'The overall winner was Hubie Magee, who else could it have been really? The man has brought such sunshine into all of our lives and there isn"t a house in the town that he hasn"t touched in some way.'It"s great to see people rewarded for their efforts. I would rather see the ordinary man being applauded than another politician getting a pat on the back.'Of course during my time as Cathaoirleach sadly Joe Dolan also passed away and it was a great privilege to be involved with the committee who organised the tribute to him which will be unveiled in Market Square sometime in November.'The outpouring of grief for Joe was unprecedented as so we wanted to make sure that we got the tribute right. In all there were 17 meetings about the memorial and we worked closely with the family and of course with Ben.'When I look at the book that the council gave me, which is a sort of scrap book of press cuttings of all the events I attended over the year, I can"t actually believe that I had time to do it all.'I actually don"t know how I have fitted in family life, a full time job and politics over the years, I have to say that some sacrifices were made and maybe there were things that I should have been at and wasn"t, I"m sure that there are. But my partner Trish has always been supportive and I suppose that politics is sort of a social life as well.'But I have to say that I don"t really drink. I would have the odd glass of wine and Trish and I like going out to eat, the Greville Arms is our favourite, but generally politics and drink just don"t mix, There are loads of pitfalls out there and loads of temptations out there when you get involved in politics and loads of things that can drag you down so I just steer clear of it all really,' he said.As for the future months and years in politics in Mullingar Mick remains surprisingly hopeful despite the current economic doom and gloom.'I would be very hopeful that the Central Development would go ahead and I think that Mullingar has a bright future,' he said.'We are lucky to have a County Manager of the calibre of Danny McLoughlin who is an outstanding local government representative and I am looking forward now to working with the council on the county development plan which is the engine room for local council progress for the next six years.'Of course it would be wrong to deny that there are no problems out there when I see people struggling every day. There are people who have been laid off and I know that they have mortgages of €1,400 a month and maybe have no chance of getting another job any time soon. They are now depending on mortgage relief from the county council or on social welfare payments and that has a huge effect on people"s dignity.'All this is due to the greed that we have seen from the fat cats in the last ten years and that is what has left us in this mess that we are now in. House prices were hugely over inflated and people got greedy with buying up properties, I know one individual who owns 37 properties in Mullingar and that is just fundamentally wrong.'What we need to do in the next five years in Mullingar is push ourselves forward in terms of infrastructure and attracting business to the town. But at the end of the day the councillors only have a certain amount of input the rest is up to the professional people on the council, the engineers, the county manager, the director of services. These people are experts in their fields and we have to listen to their advice first and foremostly.'I believe that we should be proud of Mullingar, we really have a lot going for us. I am particularly keen to highlight Belvedere as a major attraction for the area and when I organised functions during my year as Cathaoirleach I used the visitor"s centre there whenever I could.'I always thought that when people from out of town saw what a great attraction it is that they would take the word back to where they came from.'I have no doubt that Mullingar has a great future and am proud that I am part of a council that is striving to make that happen.'