March4Tipp is beginning its campaign to change how Council decisions that affect local people are made. The nomination of its first candidate to run for the Council elections in May is their first shot in giving the community a chance to vote for change.
While the group has led a massive protest campaign to date, it was recognised that the only way to get lasting changes to improve how the community is properly represented is to put forward independent community-based candidates for the local elections in May. The group will be putting forward three independent candidates for election.
Some may say that three candidates may not be elected, but the group simply says that the people will decide how much of a change it wants to make in these elections. Putting forward three candidates offers the community the chance to make substantial change.
The first nominee to be announced by March4Tipp is Annemarie Ryan. Annemarie’s interest in community activism started with the successful campaign to keep Tipperary Excel open during the library relocation in 2017. Annemarie, along with a group of concerned citizens and the support of the local community forced Tipperary County Council to reverse the decision to close the Excel. Annemarie says that whole experience made her become more active in the community and in fighting for the rights of the community in Tipperary town.
- A campaign image when the successful fight to keep the Excel open was fought
“Our community feels ignored and neglected by the current political set-up. That community feeling of hurt was expressed by the thousands of people who marched in two massive protests late last year. The community voicing its concerns like that really convinced me that we have to change how things are run, especially at Council level”, she said.
“I have been an active member of March4Tipp from the beginning and while I have never held political ambitions, I believe that the local community wants and needs change. The local elections coming up in May gives the community an opportunity to make changes in the way we are represented. I am so proud of the amazingly strong community spirit in Tipperary and would be humbled to represent people and do my best to get decisions that benefit and support Tipperary town and the surrounding area”.
Annemarie Ryan is member of the Ryan Shiner family from Solohead/Monard. She is married to Breton man Loic L’Herrou and they have run the French Quarter Café in Tipperary Town for the past twelve years. She is mother of Betty (9) and Leon (7), who attend Gaelscoil Thiobraid Árann.
Annemarie is a member of the Gaelscoil Parents' Council, and has volunteered for a number of years with the Tipperary Festival, organising the Churn Rolling Festival and the family days in the Market Yard.
