Declan Bree | |
|---|---|
 Bree in 2011 | |
| Sligo County Councillor | |
| Assumed office 18 June 1974 | |
| Constituency | Sligo Strandhill |
| Teachta Dála | |
| In office November 1992 – June 1997 | |
| Constituency | Sligo–Leitrim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1951-07-01)1 July 1951 (age 74) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Independent (2024–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Website | www |
Declan Bree (born 1 July 1951) is an Irishindependent politician. He was a founder of theSligo–Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation in 1974, and was a member of that group until joining theLabour Party in 1991. He served inDáil Éireann from 1992 to 1997. In May 2007 Bree resigned from the Labour Party, citing his disagreement with their pre-electoral pact withFine Gael, and his clashes with party leaderPat Rabbitte.
He was first elected toSligo Corporation andSligo County Council in 1974 and has retained his seat on both authorities at each subsequent election (the former was abolished as a separate authority in 2014). He was Mayor of Sligo in 2004 and was Chairman of Sligo County Council in 1986.
He is a former Chairman of the Health Service Executive's Regional Health Forum West, and he is also Chairman of the Western River Basin Advisory Council.
A member of Ireland's radical socialist youth organisation theConnolly Youth Movement[1] in the late 1960s and early 1970s, he went on to become National Chairperson of the movement. A founder and former chairperson and General Secretary of the Sligo–Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation he has been a lifelong political activist.
He was the Sligo–Leitrim Campaign Director in both divorce referendum campaigns and he was a lifelong member of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement.
He was the Secretary of the National Association of Labour Councillors, President of the Connolly Forum (Sligo) and he is also Secretary of the Gralton Labour History Committee (Leitrim). He is a patron ofPeople's Movement, which campaigned against theLisbon Treaty.[2]
An active trade unionist he is a former member of the Western branch Committee of the Federated Workers Union of Ireland. He is a member of the Sligo branch ofSIPTU. He is also a member of the Executive of the Local Authority Members Association.
Involved in numerous voluntary and cultural organisations over the years he is a member ofComhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, a former Sligo County Secretary of Comhaltas, and was Cathaoirleach of the host branch of Comhaltas when Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was awarded to Sligo. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Hawk's Well Theatre and a member of the Board of the Model:Niland Gallery.
The State military files released last year after 30 years which highlighted the whereabouts and activities of suspected 'subversives', included Bree as well as other prominent activists such asTomás Mac Giolla,Cathal Goulding,James Kelly andRuairí Ó Brádaigh. Bree, in answer to this new notoriety, said 'This reflected the general paranoia of Church and State in the Ireland during the 60s and 70s, and "Practically everyone active in left wing politics at the time was considered dangerous and subversive," he added.[citation needed][timeframe?]
He first stood for election toDáil Éireann as anIndependent candidate at the1977 general election for theSligo–Leitrim constituency, but was not elected. He also unsuccessfully stood there at the1981,February 1982,November 1982,1987 and1989 general elections. After joining theLabour Party, he was finally elected to theDáil as a LabourTeachta Dála (TD) at the1992 general election for Sligo–Leitrim.[3] He lost his seat at the1997 general election. He stood again at the2002 general election but was not elected.[4]
At the 2004 Labour Party annual conference, Bree argued against the pre-electoral pact with the centre-rightFine Gael party. In autumn 2005 Bree, a strong supporter ofTravellers' rights, clashed with Labour leaderPat Rabbitte over the issue of Traveller accommodation in Sligo.
A 2009 report, commissioned after a walk-out by officials of Sligo Borough Council, found that remarks made at that meeting by him in relation to the proposed funding of a footbridge from a private development at Swan Point to Markievicz Road were "inappropriate and bullying". Bree said that he stood by what he said.[5]
Bree was involved in negotiations to set up theUnited Left Alliance in November 2010, but due to disagreements he did not join initially,[6] but did in February 2011 run for the alliance unsuccessfully at the2011 general election inSligo–North Leitrim.[7] At the2016 general election he stood again in the reconstituted Sligo–Leitrim constituency, but again was not elected. Bree stood at the2020 general election forIndependents 4 Change, but was not elected.
President of IrelandCatherine Connolly is Bree's sister-in-law.[8]