Independent Ashbourne councillor, Bonner courted by main parties

Independent poll-topper Joe Bonner has confirmed that he has had discussions with political parties in the shadow of a looming election.

The Meath Chronicle has learned that Fine Gael party officials had met Cllr Bonner but this could not be confirmed and the party did not respond to calls on the subject early this week.

When contacted the Ashbourne councillor said he always responded to invitations to meet anyone but stressed that he had not initiated the discussions and that the request to meet him had “come the other way”.

“They asked to meet me, I did not ask to meet them”, he said. He said that he had had approaches from “all the major political parties except one” to meet up. He did not say which party had not approached him.

“People ask to meet me all the time and out of courtesy I never refuse to meet anyone. I will always sit down and listen to what people have to say”. He would not respond to questions about local speculation that he might have been asked to run for a political party in the General Election scheduled for next March but widely expected before Christmas.

Cllr Bonner staunchly maintains his longstanding status as an Independent on Meath County Council. He said this week that he had built up “great capital” as an Independent. In the June local election she headed the poll with 2,686 votes, 1,172 ahead of his nearest rival, another Independent, Cllr Amanda Smith. Fine Gael head office in Dublin did not respond to calls about the meetings.