In the second of our Socialist in the Council interviewsFinbar Lynch spoke to People Before Profit Cllr. Adrienne Wallace about her experience on Carlow County Council and what socialists can achieve at local council.
Finbar Lynch: What politicised you?
Adrienne Wallace: The Anti-Water Charges movement. I had just left college where I was introduced to socialist ideas and then fired into a mass movement fighting austerity. It was the perfect storm really.
Finbar: Before being a councillor, what did you do/have you worked at?
Adrienne: I was a waitress and bar tender for years. It was still the hardest job I ever had. Long hours, low pay and very little control over your life. To even mention a union, you were threatened that the whole place would be closed down. Workers were often intimidated by that idea and quite demoralised.
Finbar: Why did you join People Before Profit?
Adrienne: The politics are on point and the party has always fostered a great culture of open debate and comradeship. It is the only political party without landlords. We also have a road map to not just challenge this system but build a better one.
Finbar: Why are you running for council as a socialist? What do you think socialists can achieve on a local level?
Adrienne: Socialists do politics differently. When I first ran in the locals and was campaigning for a women’s refuge all the other councillors said I couldn’t make that happen by just being a Councillor. It’s been 5 years but we now have a commitment to have a refuge next year. This is because I passed motions in the council, used my platform to shame the government into action, but much more importantly we built agrassroots campaign that fought on the streets.
The right wing councillors wanted to lower the expectations of what people should expect from their elected reps, we challenged that and won.
Finbar: What issues have you found matter most to your constituents – what issues will you be campaigning on?
Adrienne: Housing. The council has the power to CPO land,to build social and affordable housing. They’re choosing not to do that because they don’t want to interfere with the market –I think it’s time we did interfere with the market. The current policy is working in the interests of landlords and developers and this won’t change until we elect campaigners in the council and build local campaigns.
Finbar: Do you think Palestine will be a factor in the local elections?
Adrienne: I think it will be a factor. The people in Ireland are horrified by the lack of direct action to challenge Israel from the government parties. Last year Carlow councillors had a VIP meeting with NY Mayor Eric Adams who is notoriously pro-Israel. This year I asked the Mayor to boycott the trip and instead invite the Carlow Association in the US to Carlow. She refused and another delegation went over to throw in support behind the Biden Administration funding this genocide.
I have a motion down calling on Carlow Council to become an Apartheid Free Zone. As councillors we should be using every opportunity to stop the attacks on the Palestinian people.
Finbar: Are you concerned about how the far right will perform in your area?
Adrienne: Not really. People have seen through their so called “concern” and recognise it for what it is now, the ugly face of racism. Carlow has had successful refugee resettlement and now Rohingyas, Syrians, Africans all live and work in Carlow and make it a better place.
Finbar: Turnout was quite low in the last local elections, do you expect that to change this time around?
Adrienne: Not massively. I think the fact it is easier to register to vote now will help but many are disillusioned still.
Finbar: How do you bring about change to environmental policy on a local level?
Adrienne: I have ensured that there are native flowers being planted across Carlow. I got a living roof installed in bus shelters and installed signage about the correct feed for wild swans. We need easily implementable bio-diversity plans. I am also calling for a tree protection policy to be developed that will ensure no tree is felled unnecessarily and that proper maintenance of trees takes place.
But we also need to target the big polluters, ban data centres and tax the fossil fuel industry. The Greens have shown their true colours, and it’s certainly not green. It’s time for eco-socialism.
Finbar: Why should constituents vote for you?
Adrienne: Because I am able to take FF and FG head-on on the big issues and still pass measures that improve our lives and locality. I’ve been able to show how we can do things differently, that we don’t need the LPT (local property tax) increases, instead we need the government to stop decreasing central funding.
Also, in Carlow developers owe the council over €2 million that we should be clawing back from them. PBP is the only political party refusing to join a right wing coalition, we’ve learnt from our recent history that we need to break the 2 and a half party system if we want better lives. Here’s our chance.
