The Mark of a gentleman

At Westmeath County Council"s July meeting, Cllr. Mark Nugent - one of the county"s most popular and firmly established public representatives - will bow out of politics, ending a political journey which began over 30 years ago in Rochfortbridge.Not only will Mark"s final meeting be a sad day for his fellow members, but it will also be a bitter one for the Labour Party in Westmeath, who are resigned to losing one of their most dedicated front-line faces in the county.Labour has built up a solid reputation in the greater Mullingar area over the past 20 years, and it has mainly been due to the popular appeal of a number of individuals, most notably Deputy Willie Penrose, and a number of councillors who regularly attract a solid vote from their respective areas.Mark Nugent is one of those councillors, pulling over a thousand votes in the Kilbeggan area in 2004, and keeping the Labour flag flying in his heartland areas of Dalystown, Rochfortbridge and Tyrrellspass.He names Deputy Penrose as his primary political influence, calling the Ballynacargy man"s entry into politics as a 'ray of light' for Westmeath, particularly the Mullingar, Coole and Kilbeggan areas.It was Deputy Penrose - then a very successful Mullingar area Labour councillor - who convinced Mark to join Westmeath County Council in place of former councillor and senator, Helena McAuliffe Ennis.'It was never really my intention to be a councillor,' Mark told the Westmeath Examiner. 'But the pressure came on me eventually, and I took it from there.'I was never a great one for a meeting; there"s too much formality, and too much repetition of words. I always kept a low profile, doing the work on the ground, and I got a great buzz out of working for and with the people.'Mark said that for years, he had been 'quite happy' being an activist working on behalf of Willie Penrose. 'He"s an honest broker, bright and well educated, and I was very impressed with him when Labour started to organise in Rochfortbridge.'Entry into politics was not the beginning of Mark"s life as a public representative. It was a natural progression from his previous involvement with the trade union movement, where he represented his fellow workers in Bord na Mona.But it all began many years before that in his native Dalystown.Mark, a son of Paul and Margaret Nugent, was born as the first of twelve children - a standing which carried plenty of difficult responsibility in Ireland during the 1940s and 1950s. 'The whole lot of us lived in a three bedroom house, and as the eldest, I had to go out working at 13 years of age. In May, I was 55 years working.'You"d bring home a bit of money during the day, and hand it over at night, and this was all very important to keep a family going at the time.'I went to work with Bord na Mona as a labourer in 1959 - on my 19th birthday - and from there I went on to be a machine driver, and before long a supervisor.'Mark described his career with Bord na Mona as tough, but very rewarding. But one aspect of it he really enjoyed was representing his fellow workers in the unions. He first came to prominence in the local union movement when he became the shop steward at the Derrygreenagh Bord na Mona Works in Rochfortbridge in the mid-1970s - around the time he was promoted to a supervisor position.He was elected chairman of the Tullamore branch of the Irish Transport and General Workers" Union, when proposed by a number of colleagues. 'It was kind of unusual for a fellow from Mullingar to get this job,' he said.Eventually, as Chairman of the Bord na Mona Workers" Group within the union, he represented his colleagues at national level, and became one of the body"s most recognisable faces. In the late 1980s, he was appointed to the board of Bord na Mona, and was at the thick of negotiations in 1996 when developments within the company led to chief executive, Eddie O"Connor stepping down from his post.In the meantime, Mark had also been heavily involved with the Castlelost Credit Union movement in Rochfortbridge, and the Board of Management of Dalystown National School, and it was in the 1980s that all of these commitments merged, as he began to gravitate towards matters political.'I had been a member of the Labour Party since the 1970s, but it was fairly lukewarm in Westmeath at the time. Then Willie Penrose came out to talk to the workers at Derrygreenagh Works, and before long both he and Mick Dollard asked me to set up a party branch in Rochfortbridge.'Only four people attended the first Labour meeting in Rochfortbridge, but the branch quickly grew to attract over 100 members.Enthusiasm for the message of the Labour Party in the area grew following Mark"s co-option to the Council in October 1990, and he has been returned to the Council Chambers three times since (by election in 1991 and 2004). He was second only to Fine Gael"s Cllr. Joe Flanagan in the Kilbeggan area poll.The Dalystown man says that he enjoyed his year as Cathaoirleach of the Council in 2005 immensely, and was delighted to work with his Vice-Chairman at the time, Cllr. Pat McLoughlin, one of the 'great characters' he met along the way.'I"ve met so many great characters over the past eighteen years, the late Paddy and P.J. O"Shaughnessy to name two, not to mention our own Dan McCarthy, who has a great way with words. The banter between us all is always good.'Then there"s the help I was given by my colleagues, and I"ll be forever grateful for that. Willie Penrose and Mick Dollard especially, who worked very hard for me whenever I was caught up with Bord na Mona business.'I got on very well with the three county managers in my time, too. You have to be upfront with them, and build up a positive relationship. They have to trust you, and you have to trust them, and if your case is right, the officials will do their best to help you,' said Mark, adding that the bulk of a councillor"s work is 'never done at a Council meeting'.At this time, the Kilbeggan area councillor has no inkling who his replacement on the Council will be, but he wants to make it clear that he is not retiring as a Labour Party activist, and will be around to guide them through the final year before the next local elections.'I"m not giving up, and when the elections are on next year, with the help of God, I"ll be on the doors canvassing.'The one thing I would like to see my successor follow up is the pursuit of a major realignment at the Carrick-Clonfad N52. Three people have been killed on this four and a half kilometre stretch in the past few years, and it"s the most dangerous bit of road in Ireland.'Progress'I"ve enjoyed seeing the progress of the past fifteen years,' Mark said, reflecting on his time on the Council. 'When I joined in 1990, there was no houses, and the County Manager at the time was talking about switching off street lights in places just to save a bit of money.'Unfortunately, I"m afraid that we look to be coming into that time again, but I hope it won"t be as bad as it was in the 1980s. Then again, the amount of debt that people are in is the main danger nowadays. Before it was just about lack of jobs, and at that time, people weren"t earning the same kind of money, they weren"t spending as much, or building huge houses.'One thing which has delighted Mark with regard to the Kilbeggan area is the amount of infrastructural development it has enjoyed over the past ten years.'The new road structure has been the biggest thing to happen to the area in many years. But there has been a huge influx of people into places like Rochfortbridge and Kilbeggan, and we could do with a bit of investment to go along with that.'The Council still has a lot to do, and I do think that Rochfortbridge and Kilbeggan have suffered and continue to suffer despite the times of prosperity. It"ll take a bit of effort to bring it back, but I see a great future for these towns as industrial and business bases, given how close they are to the N6.'Rochfortbridge has changed so much,' Mark continued. 'I remember canvassing the hundred or so houses in the Derrygreenagh Park area, knowing each and every one of the people and how they felt about politics. But now it"s so changed, and we need someone with youth and energy to come in and pick things up.'InfluencesMark cites no major historical influences as having given him direction over the years, saying that Deputy Willie Penrose has been the one source of inspiration to him since his political life began. 'I was also a great admirer of our former Tánaiste and party leader, Dick Spring who was a great statesman,' he said.His biggest influence, naturally, is May - a native of Kilbeggan and his wife of 44 years - and their family of seven: Gerald and Oliver (both in England), Pauline (who works in Deputy Penrose"s constituency office), Helen, Declan, Paul and David.Mark also maintains a great store of respect for the trade union movement. 'They did so much for me over the years,' he remarked.So what now for Dalystown"s favourite son? Although he intends to continue to make himself available to the Labour Party, he will use his free time to catch up on a bit of walking and gardening.A proud Westmeath and St. Brigid"s Hurling Club supporter, Mark attended the club"s inaugural meeting in 1957, and hopes to take in a few hurling and football matches now that his schedule is clear.