Peadar Tóibín has told an Aontú party’s think-in in Derry that it is targeting up to a dozen seats in the next Dáil election, after polls showed that support for the party had doubled since the last general election
He said the party was gathering at a time of “enormous growth” and was experiencing “a historic high” since its formation in 2018. “The Ireland Thinks poll puts Aontú support equal to the combined support of the Labour Party, the Greens and PbP,” Deputy Toibín said.
He welcomed Cllr Margaret Anne McKillop from North Antrim who recently left the SDLP to Aontú at the party gathering and said that he believed she represented “a growing number of people within the SDLP and SF who are deeply unhappy that their leadership is no longer listening to the grassroots.”
Cllr McKillop left the SDLP in October last year over its stance on abortion, claiming the party had “celebrated the loss of unborn life”.
“I will always stand by what I think is right,” she said.” While I have worked for my community as an independent for almost a year now, I am delighted to announce I have joined Aontú.
“It has been refreshing to find a party which speaks common sense. “A party which is pro-life, supportive of families, willing to raise its head above the parapet and stand up for what it believes in.”
STORMONT BREAKTHROUGH PREDICTED
“She is the third elected rep who has joined Aontú in the last few months,” Deputy Tóibín said. “She will join a team of candidates in the north led by Gemma Brolly who are already holding the disastrous Stormont parties to account. The support that Aontú is receiving at the doors convinces me that we will win a significant number of local council seats in the May election and will see an Aontú breakthrough into Stormont.”
He said that the government “is out of touch and is out of time,” and “are disconnected from the people they are meant to serve.”
“Before we get into the winter period, one in seven Irish households are in arrears on their electricity bills. 188,000 families are in arrears on their gas Bills. In one of the richest countries in the world, working families are not able to pay for a stable of life: energy,” he said.
He told Aontú delegates at the think-in that a dozen seats could be possible “on a good day”, pointing to constituencies where he felt Aontú was strongest such as Limerick City, Cavan/Monaghan, Meath East, Dublin West, and Wexford.
“The increased support for Aontú, puts increased responsibility on our shoulders. So many people in Ireland are suffering and are under pressure. We owe them all our efforts,” the Meath West TD said.
“But we have a duty to grow membership, to grow activism and to grow the number local area reps. We are at a juncture in our growth now, where need to translate support into elected reps. The election in the north in 8 months’ time is our first opportunity to do this. The is a hunger for change in the north. There is a massive need for change in the north. We owe it to the people we serve and the values we hold, to mobilise membership across the 32 counties into the 6 to make that change happen.”