Aontu party leader Peadar Tóibín will contest the upcoming European elections in the Midlands North-West constituency.
Tóibín has been a TD in the Meath West constituency since 2011, and founded Aontu in 2019 after leaving Sinn Fein due to differing views on abortion.
The County Meath politician will now join the EU election ticket, potentially swapping Leinster House for Strasbourg if elected.
In a statement, Peadar Tóibín said that “Aontú is a small but effective movement taking on the political establishment. We aim to win a seat in the EU for the people of Ireland in Midlands North West and we urge people who demand change to get involved in this campaign now.”
“I am very grateful to my colleagues for their confidence in selecting me as their candidate in the Midlands North EU Constituency. I am delighted to join my colleague Patrick Murphy who is the Aontú candidate for Ireland South. Patrick came to international prominence recently as part of a group of fishermen who dared to challenge the flotilla of Russian warships who were testing missiles off the south-west coast of Ireland.”
“There is a growing chasm between the lives of the people of this region and an increasingly south Dublin Government. Family farms are disappearing. Two thirds of those who remain in farming cannot make a living from the farm alone anymore. Urban Green Ministers are blind to the damage that they are doing to rural communities in Donegal. They are hammering families with energy taxes without providing the necessary transport and heating alternatives. And as people leave the farms, local community services disappear too.”
“GPs are not taking patients. The A&Es that remain open are struggling with overcrowding. Ambulances queue for hours to deliver their patients to these stuffed A&Es and then take longer to reach emergencies. The lack of home care packages and step-down facilities mean more clinically discharged patients have to remain in hospital beds, while people pile up on trolleys in the corridors of hospitals. I am a conviction and a campaigning politician. I cannot stand idly by and watch the damage that this government is doing to this country.
“Aontú is a party of self-determination. We are a Euro critical political party. We want to see a European Union that cooperates on trade and international challenges such as climate, but we oppose the drift towards a European Army and federalisation. We want to see more powers returned to national parliaments. We need MEPs that actually represent Irish people, rather than ignore them. Aontú will use these European elections to force the government to actually start listening to people again.”
Peadar Tóibín will also be attending a public meeting on Monday the 4th of March in Letterkenny at Dillons Hotel, organised by Donegal Aontu.
