attracted by his colourful appearance and strong rhetoric. In 2001, he hit the headlines when he sent more than 200 cannabis joints to politicians in the Oireachtas, one to each TD and senator, as part of his campaign to have cannabis legalised. Roscommon County Council Flanagan returned to his native Castlerea, County Roscommon where he contested the 2004 local elections; he was elected to Roscommon County Council, topping the poll and being elected on the first count, defeating sitting councillors John Murray and Danny Burke. He was re-elected on the first count at 2009 local elections, receiving 16.8% of 1st preference votes in the Castlerea electoral area, and exceeding the quota by 394 votes. Mayor of County Roscommon On 28 June 2010, Flanagan was elected as the Mayor of Roscommon County Council. On 27 July 2010, Flanagan was the subject of debate over his refusal to lead the prayer said before council meetings; he said that it would be hypocritical for him, as a non-believer, to lead it. The matter was later resolved by asking the Deputy Mayor Ernie Keenan to say the prayer. In December 2010, Flanagan proposed that his mayoral allowance should be halved, and many of his other allowances be abolished entirely, in recognition of the financial difficulties that the country and the county were experiencing. The proposal met with a mixed reception from his council colleagues. Irish politics 2011 general election Flanagan was elected to represent the Roscommon–South Leitrim constituency in the 31st Dáil in the 2011 general election, one of twenty members of the New Vision alliance of independent candidates. He received 8,925 (18.8%) first preference votes, which enabled him to take the first seat with 12,149 votes on the fourth count, while the two incumbent Fine Gael TDs were elected on the sixth count. Neither of the two Fianna Fáil candidates managed to retain the seat of their retiring party colleague, Michael Finneran. Upon his election, Flanagan took a 50% salary cut and urged his fellow TDs to follow suit. Following his election to the Dáil, Flanagan nominated independent John Murphy to replace him on Roscommon County Council. When he was elected in 2011, Flanagan kept his promise to retain only half of his €92,672 salary and distribute the rest to local projects. He refused to hand it back to the State, claiming it would only be pumped into the banks. Dáil Éireann In