‘Life goes on,’ says Creed, despite his demotion

OUTGOING Agriculture Minister Michael Creed says he has no hard feelings for new Taoiseach Micheál Martin having lost the portfolio after four years in office.

‘He’s my Taoiseach, and it’s a new politics,’ the Macroom man said.

The changing of office had been largely expected and Michael himself said: ‘ I think it became apparent from the get-go on February 9th. It’s a three party government, to me the writing was on the wall so I wasn’t surprised at all.’

However, he said he wouldn’t be human if the announcement hadn’t created a certain amount of disappointment, even if it was ‘tempered with reality.’

‘I’m feeling fine,’ he insisted.

The Cork North West representative said he was happy with his performance over the past four years, but said it would be up to others to decide on his legacy.

His advice to new Minister Barry Cowen was to ‘focus on the collaborative approach of all sectors who work towards a common goal.’

‘This collaborative approach is the foundation of the entire edifice that the agricultural industry is built on,’ he said.

Regarding the future, he added: ‘I’m still a constituent for Cork North West. This is where it all began and I’m honoured to continue in that role. Life goes on.’

The father-of-three was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1989.

Earlier this month, he said his four years as minister was the ‘privilege of my life’.

‘I gave it everything over the four years and I don’t think there is a corner of the globe that I haven’t travelled to in efforts to build new markets and the like,’ he said.