‘Fra McCann: A Working Class Hero’ By Donal Lavery

Despite all the criticisms, many of which are true, about the policy-makers we elect to the Assembly, there are some people of a truly exceptional nature therein. I think Sammy Wilson was a very able Finance Minister. I think Naomi Long is fundamentally a very decent person. And I think our outgoing Finance Minister has a charisma and business acumen which I have rarely seen matched in a person.

But there are those who validate their right to be elected to the positions they are in by the very intensity of their work ethic. One such person is Francis ‘Fra’ McCann, who is elected by the people of West Belfast as their MLA. There isn’t a better and more person-centred individual within our system of democracy than he, particularly when it comes to resolving issues for constituents. The bread and butter issues make up the core of his daily life.

Elected to Belfast City Council in a by-election in the 1980’s, Fra has been a republican representative for longer than I’ve been on this Earth. So he knows a thing or two about local and devolved matters. Throughout his years on the Council, he was able to carry the respect of all the Councillors he served alongside, both Unionists and Nationalists, who recognised very clearly that Fra is no push-over. Here is someone who could teach People Before Profit a thing or two about actual mass struggle, having faced down the brunt of Unionist death-squads and state mercenaries, who actively targeted Sinn Fein Councillors and their families. And here is someone who is to be found at every protest, not just the ones being filmed or photographed (take note Mr. Carroll).

While the representatives of other parties enjoyed the full protection of the state, Fra and others went to a day’s work with no line of defence in the midst of a war-zone. Being a republican on the Council back then meant untold anxiety and the likelihood of not getting out of your car alive in the morning. Undoubtedly this resilient zeal rubbed off on the man when he recently foiled a group of thugs from stealing a local tradesman’s set of work tools from an open van – that’s real community policing, for any Coppers who may be reading!

At every election he has been returned with a strong mandate because people know both where they stand with him and what they are getting. He is the epitome of what it means to be a left-wing republican, espousing the cause of labour as the cause of Ireland in all that he does. Likewise, he doesn’t forget where he comes from and the ordinary people who put him there, which many politicians reversely fall captive to. If James Connolly has an heir to his legacy then it is carried best by people like Fra, who say what they mean and mean what they say. Whatever else may happen, he’s out to get the best possible deal for his constituents – nothing short of national and economic liberation for the Irish people.

Even in his more senior years he’s still going strong, with more energy than me (and I’m not even half his age!). He is without any shadow of doubt one of the strongest cards in the Sinn Fein deck and I hope he continues to work hard in addressing the many issues on his desk each day. May he top the poll!