MICK WALLACE, the builder and political activist, is to run as an Independent candidate in Wexford, he announced last night.

Mr Wallace, whose company is Wallace Construction, achieved a certain prominence in recent years by using its building site hoardings to advertise his political views. These have included being against the Nato bombing of Yugoslavia to force President Slobodan Milosevic’s forces out of Kosovo, and campaigning against the US-led invasion of Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein, a move he denounced on a large banner draped over the facade of a site on Dublin’s north quays.

Speaking on Vincent Browne’s Tonightprogramme on TV3, he said he planned to contest the election in the Wexford constituency.

“I haven’t been taking the easy path for much of my life,” he said. “As a builder for the last 15 years, as any other business, if you weren’t in league with the party in government it wasn’t easy.”

His political banners had adverse consequences for him, he maintained. “It proved very costly for me because I lost contracts over it.”

As a TD, he hoped to achieve political reform, which he defined as having fewer TDs, and change the role of the TD. “At the moment most of their energies are all about looking after things at a very local level . . . which isn’t healthy.”

He added: “Maybe I’d be completely frustrated but I do think I need to try.”

Mr Wallace is also keen on football. The company motto, complete with football logo, is “Work hard, play hard”.