TROUBLED former Fianna Fail councillor Liam Kelly has
told of the personal, professional and financial hardships he’s endured since
pictures of him allegedly taking cocaine were made public.
In an exclusive interview with Northside People, Mr
Kelly explained how he felt vindicated after Wesley Higgins pleaded guilty to
blackmailing him in an attempt to extort
?¬5,000 from the former politician. The
33-year-old is due to be sentenced on January 27.
But Mr Kelly revealed he may be forced to leave
Ireland in order to rebuild his life.
With the guilty plea came the closure of a chapter of
Mr Kelly’s life that he wishes never happened.
“I regret the pictures [in Sunday World] coming out
because of how hurtful they were to my family and all those who voted for me,
?
the Glasnevin local told Northside People.
“But it did force me to take a look at my life and the
consequences of my actions.
“I haven’t had a drink since and that was five years
ago.
?
During the trial, Mr Kelly denied taking cocaine on
the night back in August 2006 when the photographs were taken. He said he
suffered blackouts because of his alcoholism and could remember little of the
night.
After the controversy broke in the newspapers, Mr
Kelly went to ground and undertook a six-week programme in St John of Gods
followed by a year and a half of aftercare.
He still attends AA and believes he has now turned a
corner in fighting his alcohol addiction.
“I’ve got to a stage where I can go to the pub for a
cup of tea and a chat with friends or neighbours and I don’t feel any
temptation to have anything else,
? he explained.
Mr Kelly feels he would have been relatively unscathed
had the leaked photographs only led to him losing his seat on Dublin City
Council. However, there were also serious personal consequences.
“I’ve suffered a huge financial and material loss,
? he
revealed.
“My whole world has been turned upside down.
“I’ve been unable to honour debts and I’m in arrears
with my mortgage and with the credit union.
“It’s been incredibly stressful especially because my
mortgage is on the family home, which as you can understand I have huge
emotional ties with.
“I’ve suffered from depression and the debt worries
have threatened to overwhelm me and sometimes they have become too much to
bear.
?
Mr Kelly’s reputation also took an immeasurable blow
and he has struggled to get a job, despite attending countless interviews over
the last five years.
“There are a lot of skilled people out there so it’s
definitely harder to get a job in the current climate,
? he said.
“But it can’t have helped to have such controversy
attached to my name.
“It is of course impossible to quantify but I’d be
naïve to think that companies don’t do as much as a Google check on
candidates.
?
Mr Kelly, who is currently undertaking a course in
International Business and Marketing in the Dublin Business School, believes
that unless he somehow manages to land his dream job here, his only hope for
the future is to emigrate in an effort to
“escape it all
?.
“I looked into the possibility of returning to
Australia where I lived before because they’re not aware of the scandal
connected to my name,
? he explained.
“The plan is to save to be able to afford to
emigrate.
?
Mr Kelly wished to thank all those who have supported
him in the last five years. He believes that the guilty plea in the blackmail
court case is a
“start rather than an end
? and that he can now begin to put the
past behind him and rebuild his life.