A FORMER LABOUR councillor has written to constituents to explain his reasons for leaving the party and informing them that he is now an independent.
Paddy Bourke, who represents Artane in north Dublin, quit the party last month and is one of over two dozen to have done so since Labour went into coalition government two-and-a-half years ago.
In the letter he says that the decision was not taken lightly, but that the party had crossed a line in increasing prescription charges, changing medical card eligibility for over 70s, and abolishing the telephone allowance in the Budget.
“For what!!” he writes. “When only 10c was put on 20 cigarettes and 10c on alcohol. There was no need to hit the Senior Citizen/Sick People/People on fixed incomes.”
He notes that they will have to pay the property tax, water charges “and who knows what else before austerity ends, while the rich get away relatively free”.
“That’s why I am now an Independent Councillor,” he concludes.
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