'Rural communities ignored' - Gemma Brolly

Aontú deputy leader Gemma Brolly said the party’s Ard Fheis reflected the motto - all politics is local.

Proceedings at the party’s fifth annual Ard Fheis, held in the City North Hotel in Leader Peadar Tóibin’s Meath West constituency, were televised for the first time, which, smiling, Ms Brolly said meant everything was “timed and on a schedule, which was “a bit of a change for us”.

Speaking to the County Derry Post, Ms Brolly said her speech had highlighted the "enforceable adherence to the Rural Needs Act”.

“Increasingly, across public consultations, we are finding people in rural communities are being ignored and the Rural Needs Impact Assessments are very rarely up to scratch,” she added.

“The two instances where we have seen this are in relation to mining and the siting of wind turbines in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

“In the case of the former, 99.5% had voted against the prospect mining licences and yet they were going ahead.

Delighted our motion from Cumann Proinnsias Ó Bhrollaigh on adherence and accountability regarding the Rural Needs Act and Public Consultations was passed.

Unfortunately, there was much cause for this motion as 'Ruling by Fooling' continues...

Beginning with the Mineral… pic.twitter.com/sI48AKgc68

— Gemma Brolly (@nic_iosa) June 4, 2025

“I also gave the example of the consultations on the Causeway Hospital, where 29 out of more than 1,400 responses were in favour of centralising emergency surgery to Antrim, and still that is going ahead - which will also have additional pressure implications for Altnagelvin Hospital.

“We see the Rural Needs Act as a policy which needs to be adhered to. In March, Mid-Ulster District Council won a High Court case in relation to this so we will be keeping a close eye on that,” said Ms Brolly.

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Participating stores included Coleraine, Portstewart, and Limavady.

The other issues Ms Brolly covered in her Ard Fheis address included: the ongoing fight for justice for victims of the Troubles, in particular the Sean Brown case; opposition to the Legacy Act; the fight for truth in the Noah Donohoe case; the ongoing genocide in Palestine; and Irish language rights.