New Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird recalls being first elected aged 19 in 1979

Newly elected Laois Fine Gael TD Willie Aird from Portlaoise holds the amazing record of being a public representative for 45 years, a long wait to get up the ladder to Dáil Éireann.

He was first elected in 1979 to a very different Ireland.

The country was controlled by a Fianna Fáil Government and the Catholic church, and the year is remembered for Pope John Paul II's visit, petrol shortages, industrial disputes, IRA bombings and the launch of RTÉ Radio 2.

Deputy Aird told the Leinster Express / Laois Live why as a teenager he wanted to be a politician.

"There was an election for the town commission in Portlaoise and I stood for election. I had a huge interest in politics all my life. My father had no interest so it skipped a generation and hit me. In 1927 my grandfather was the first, first time candidate and he topped the poll. Here am I in 2024, the first first time candidate to go for the Dáil and top the poll too," he said.

Recalling his first election, he said "it was great. We were trying to see if we were going to be elected in that photograph".

He still holds the record of being the youngest ever representative elected in Laois, and has remained one his whole adult life, now aged 64.

"I never knew anything else. I was only a young fella. I’m a public representative all my life. I got phone calls during the election checking it with me because there’s nobody left who was elected in 1979 in politics and here am I going for one of the biggest jobs you can get.

"It’s unbelievable. This is a dream. Like Nelson Mandela said, ‘a dreamer never gives up’. I always dreamt that someday my opportunity might come and it did,” he said.

He expects to make himself heard in the chambers of Dáil Éireann, where he will be a smaller fish in a much bigger pond.

“How many times was my voice not heard in Laois County Council? I can guarantee you they’ll hear me. And so will the Ceann Comhairle I can tell you that,” he said.