Luke "Ming" Flanagan - At Your Service!

Luke "Ming" Flanagan is an Independent Councillor on Roscommon County Council. He began his political career running unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in the Galway West Constituency in 1997, in the Connaught - Ulster Constituency in the European Elections of 1999 and in the Longford - Roscommon Constituency in the 2002 Dáil Elections.

Styling himself as Ming the Merciless from the film Flash Gordon, his original posters and election material featured a cannabis leaf (CLICK HERE TO VIEW). He voiced uncompromising support for radical social and environmental issues. He contested the 2004 local elections in his native Castlerea and was elected to Roscommon County Council topping the poll and getting elected on the first count. He was re-elected on the first count in the 2009 Election, receiving 16.8% of first preference votes in the Castlerea electoral area and exceeding the quota by 394 votes.

A leaflet from the 2009 Campaign. To read the details click on the individual image to enlarge.

He has been the subject of two documentary films, "Dole Éireann" - which followed his unsuccessful 1997 Dáil bid and "The Life and Crimes of Citizen Ming" which was shot over a longer period and documents various election bids and tangles with the law.

(Source: Wikipedia and others sources. Special thanks to Mary Carty.)

We would welcome further material relating to Luke Flanagan, especially the early campaigns. If you have any please contact us.

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