He’s been a publican, a bus driver, a caravan park owner and a community centre manager.
And now Ali Farren has added another string to his bow – a county councillor.
Topping the poll in Carndonagh in the recent local elections, the 100% Redress candidate surprised some by the lofty heights he reached.
But when you’ve grown up just a mile and a half from the tip of Ireland’s most northerly point, long journeys are second nature.
Which is just as well for the married father-of-two grown-up daughters as the many meetings he will attend at County House in Lifford are a round trip of more than 160 kilometres.
“When you live in Malin Head, you always have to have diesel in the car. It’s second nature. Everything is a distance away.
“When you want to go to the cinema you have to drive into Derry. We’re used to it and you just get on with it,” laughs Farren.
Although he has only dipped his toe into the local political waters, Farren has spent a lifetime in the public eye in many respects.
He grew up in his family bar, Farrens, drove a public bus and owns the Ardmalin Caravan Park at Slievebane in Malin Head.
It’s no wonder that he has a major interest in tourism but is blunt when he admits that Donegal is still 25 years behind Kerry for tourism facilities but stresses things are getting better all the time.
Unlike fellow county councillor Donal Coyle, Farren forgot to pay tribute to his own wife Mairead in the excitement of being elected but knows she always has his back.
He is also the manager of Malin Head Community Centre.
It’s another one of the many buildings, along with his own home, which is impacted by the defective blocks issue and another reason why he stood as a 100% Redress candidate in the local elections.
Not many were surprised when Farren and his three party colleagues pulled in sizeable votes but to top the poll in the Carndonagh LEA did raise a few eyebrows.
He’s still very much finding his feet and a robust first meeting at the council chamber in Lifford a couple of weeks back certainly opened his eyes.
Of his first day he says “I’m rarely in Lifford so even traveling there was a novelty. Look, it was what it was. The first while will all be about taking things in. We have a lot of learning to do.
“We have a lot of bridges to build and we have to make connections with people and we will makes friends before we make any enemies.
“I believe the best way to get to know people is to chat to them and that’s what we will do. We’re all rookies but we;re all old enough and copped on enough to know if something looks like bullshit then it usually is bullshit but we will do our best.”
He stresses that the four people elected onto the council including himself, Tomas Devine, Joy Beard and Denis McGee are only ‘four mouthpieces’ for the 100% Redress Campaign.
“That is all we are. We have an executive committee of 13 or 14 people and we will report back to them.
“We’re just the four mouthpieces that got elected but we represent a huge number of people who are all in this together and trying to get 100% redress for our homes.
“We have to fight this issue together and having four people on the council means that at least we can take our issues there and be heard.
“But make no mistake that we are all in this together and we are seeking as many people to join our group as possible,” he said.
Having now taken the first step to local recognition, Farren refuses to shy away from the group’s plans to put at least one candidate forward in the next general election.
“We did get something like seven thousand first preference votes and if we can build on that then we can have a look at that. We could possibly put two candidates forward as Donegal is a big county and it’s a long way from Malin Head to Bundoran and there are a lot of votes out there.
“But as I said earlier, we have an executive committee and they will have the final decision on that.”
In the meantime, Farren and his 100% Redress colleagues will firstly try to find their feet and try to make friends for the unknown journey ahead.
Just as long as there’s diesel in the tank…
