OK - I’ve been a bad lad in not updating my blog - sorry! Done it a lot in the last quarter, probably had something else on:

I have been up to my eyeballs in work (the stuff that pays the bills in another Labour recession) and in the evenings working as a Councillor for St Mary’s people. I have been studying, I’ve been to China, Scotland, London and France with work, and have still managed to buy a new car, change utility providers, go to the pub with friends, and do all the normal stuff that we real people do!

The year has been a rollercoaster, with Brown’s recession; Cameron’s inaction; Cleggy’s freshness (and lack of national coverage); Donal’s mad year at work; And everyone wondering what would come next?

The Council world has been a bit silly too: Tories have tried to silence any real opposition (unfair but mostly successful); Labour have continued their decline into immaterial silliness; and we’ve been better than most other years with effective ideas, proposals, and closing doors to alternatives, so that the leadership & Labour had to follow our lead.

We all defeated the Congestion Charge, now that was a kick in the thingies for Brown!

I helped out in some local elections well away from my patch, in the bargain I learnt more about canvassing and had some fun.

The people of Prestwich showed Bury Council that we were the most vociferous and intelligent people of the Borough, with the biggest contribution to a consultation for longer than anyone can recall! Brilliant!!

Thanks to the LibDems and the people of Preswich we now have a chance to shape our own future - it won’t be what everyone wants, but hopefully it will be an amalgam of what we all want.

And what do I want for 2009?

Well, watching the news today, I need to see Israel try to find a peace settlement with it’s neighbours; I want to see the disintegration of the Frist Past the Post electoral system; and I want us all to regain the neighbourliness that we enjoyed in the 70’s and before.

Enough of the tripling though - what is my list of wants and my list of “will do” for 2009? (They’re similar, so why bother having two lists!?)

1. Widen the LibDem message (from my true Liberal roots)
2. Go out more - get away from politics and enjoy real life!
3. Defeat both the opposition parties somewhere, somehow.
4. Do something distinguishing, maybe for my birthday?

What do you think?

Donal