BREAKING: Shock in Limerick as high profile Labour politician quits party

THERE is shock in Limerick this Wednesday lunchtime as a high-profile Labour politician quits the party she has represented for more than a decade.

Limerick City East councillor Elena Secas, pictured below, confirmed in a statement she will now sit as an Independent on the local authority.

She has blamed a lack of support from the party locally.

"I have been a member of and represented the Labour Party for almost 20 years and I have run for the party in all four local elections since 2009, being successfully elected in the past three elections," she said.

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"Unfortunately, in the last elections, especially in 2024, I had very little support from the party locally and things haven't really changed since, so I have now reached the point where I feel I can no longer continue to fly the party flag on my own," she said.

Cllr Secas has insisted she has not taken the decision lightly.

"I am really grateful to the very few local party members who would have supported and helped me in the past. I will continue to serve on Limerick City and County Council as an independent councillor and I wish to assure people that my main priority remains to represent them to the best of my abilities. As an independent councillor, I will continue to work really hard and to uphold the values I have always shared," she added.

A Moldovan national, and a former journalist by profession, Cllr Secas surprised many by being elected for Labour back in 2014, when the party was at a low ebb in the opinion polls due to the opposition to the water charges at the time.

It was her second time putting her name before the people of Limerick. In 2009, she narrowly missed out on a spot on the old Limerick County Council.

Based in Castletroy, and working in customer services, she retained her seat in 2019 - where she increased her vote from almost 900 to 1,192 to take the second seat in City East - and again at last summer's local elections.

It means there are two Labour councillors on the local authority: party leader, Cllr Joe Leddin and Cllr Padraigh Reale, who was co-opted following Conor Sheehan's election to Dail Eireann last year.