Cllr Aidan Pendlebury
"Honesty,transparency and accountability. Taglines for some, principles for Labour."
Cllr. Aidan Pendlebury - Clonakilty Labour Mission Statement.
The above mission statement is the very embodiment of how we in Clonakilty Labour view politics and in how we believe they should operate. I was elected to Clonakilty Town Council last year at the age of 25. Since then I have worked tirelessly to not only uphold these principles, but use them to restore the faith of the local constituents in politics and to ask them to demand more from their local representatives.
The Clonakilty Labour Branch is testimony to this new departure in how politics and politicians should operate. A continually growing branch, Clonakilty Labour is a dynamic mix of youth and experience who are extremely active in the town. We do not believe in protest politics for the simple sake of public support, we will always look at every issue as an opportunity to provide a long term, practical solution and in turn displaying what the very purpose of public representation should be. Positive politics, purposeful results.
I have always been appalled with the level of communication that local representatives wish to maintain with those they are answerable to, the constituents, once the seat is won. This growing gap has led to the disillusionment and a feeling of alienation for the public and in turn accountability has suffered. To combat this we have:
- Established a Clonakilty Labour Newsletter to inform the public exactly what their Labour representatives are doing for them. This is delivered to the door by members to ensure all people get to see the work that is been done.
- Posting of minutes of Clonakilty Town Council meetings on websites accessible to everyone. This ensures that all public representatives, including myself, are under the scrutiny of those who matter, the general public.
- Door to door calling. There is no communication type better than simple face to face conversation. That is why I endeavor to call to areas of the community throughout my time to ensure I keep in touch of all issues at the most local of levels.
These are just some ways that we have pro-actively dealt with one issue and we are currently dealing with many more including youth facilities, public order, job creation, housing and public services.
Clonakilty Labour and I are truly embarking in a new way of public representation, the proper way, the productive way. We will continue to strive throughout my term on Clonakilty Town Council to bring this highest standard of representation on all issues to all people in our community.
Aidan Highlights Issue of Policing in Rural Communities
Cllr 
