One of Waterford's longest-serving councillors has announced he is not seeking re-election this June.
Labour's Ger Barron was first elected in 1999 and served as Mayor of County Waterford in 2006. The Kilmacthomas councillor told WLR News about his reasons for making his decision.
"There's a couple of good reasons. My age is one thing. I'm 25 years at it and it was never meant to be a career anyway and currently I'm going through a health issuewhich I'm dealing with but it's something that has to be taken into account and I think that's what swung it at the end of the day."
Cllr. Ger Barron is one of the longest-serving local councillors in Waterford. Speaking to WLR News at his home this week, he reflected on his initial entry into politics.
"In 1999, when I started, first of all, I'd never been to a council meeting before I was a councillor. I had no understanding of the politics. My issue was the library in Kilmacthomas had closed! I'm a big reader and I wanted to see if I could get a library and I was going around in circles trying to get it. So somebody suggested to me, why don't you run for election?".
He told WLR News about some of the aspects of the job which he will miss the most.
"I have built up relationships with people of all parties and I have really good friends. I've met an awful lot of people who are firm friends of mine in politics now and I'll miss that."
