Fianna Fáil county councillor and convicted drink driver wants safer roads – was himself disqualified from driving

A Fianna Fáil county councillor calling for safer roads was suspended from driving for two years for a drink driving conviction.

Meath County Council leas cathaoirleach Paul McCabe was convicted of the offence in November 2021. He’s since been selected as a Fianna Fáil local election candidate for 2024.

McCabe was fined €500 and handed a two-year driving ban by judge Brendan O’Reilly after the councillor was found guilty of driving over the legal limit while travelling on the R147 on 31 August, 2019.

The councillor for Kells and North Meath in February 2022 participated in a campaign targeting dangerous driving in the village of Moynalty, county Meath. “The issue of traffic speeding through Moynalty village has long plagued the local community,” he told the Meath Chronicle at the time.

It is unclear whether his fellow road safety campaigners were aware of McCabe's driving offence.

Just one month after his conviction McCabe announced on his Facebook page that he had met with Kells garda superintendent Blaithin Moran, with whom he discussed several local issues, including the need for speed checks in Carlanstown village.

That same month McCabe said he welcomed the imposition of new speed limits on three local housing estates but cautioned, “Unfortunately sometimes signs and bylaws aren't sufficient to slow motorists down.”

McCabe sat on the Meath County Joint Policing Committee between 2019 and 2022. When asked by The Ditch if he’d like to explain what happened on the evening he got behind the wheel of a car when over the legal limit to drive, McCabe said, “I have no comment. Thank you very much.”