'There is a massive need for change in the North' Aontú Leader Peadar Tóbín
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín opened his speech at his party’s annual Think-in, which is being held in Derry, by thanking the gathered delegates for “all for all of the hard work that you are doing”
We are gathered here in Derry for the Aontú Think-in at a time of enormous growth for the party,” he added.
“Having achieved the highest increase in votes of any party in the last general election and having doubled our vote in that election to 4%, recent polls are now showing that our support levels have doubled again to 8%, a historic high for the party. The Ireland Thinks poll puts Aontú support equal to the combined support of the Labour Party, the Greens and PbP. That’s an enormous feat by a new party like ours.
“Our membership is surging past 2,500 members and today we are delighted to welcome our newest elected representative, Cllr Margaret Anne McKillop from North Antrim who recently left the SDLP. We are delighted that Margaret Anne has joined us. Margaret Anne is a fantastic local rep and a woman of integrity and principal. In her time as a councillor, she has immersed herself in the bread-and-butter issues facing her community. For years, her name has been synonymous with hard work and delivery in The Glens. She represents, I believe, a growing number of people within the SDLP and SF who are deeply unhappy that their leadership is no longer listening to the grassroots.
“She is the third elected rep who has joined Aontú in the last few months. 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.
“The people in this room should be enormously proud of what we have achieved. We have won referendums. We were proven right in seeking democratic choice in the Presidential election. That result saw the largest spoiled vote in the history of the state, We were the only party to push back against the hate speech bill and we were successful. Aontú stood with farmers and contractors during the fuel protests when most of the political establishment stood idly by. And we helped force the government’s had on excise,” said Mr Tóibín.
We were the only party to oppose the multi annual ratcheting carbon tax policy of the government. Watch the government back down on this too in the next budget. The government has stolen our clothes on new citizenship laws. FF opposed these laws at the start of the summer, now they are introducing them,” he added.
We oppose any effort by this government to end the Triple Lock. Military aid and membership of the Coalition of the Willing are stretching the meaning of neutrality beyond all recognition.
“Aontú injected the issue of accountability onto the political agenda, hammering the government for incineration of tax payers money. Aontú has singularly tackled the government on Tusla and the damage being done to children. Paul Lawless went to Brussels to fight against the Mecursor deal. He tackled the fraudulent food packaging that is designed to confuse consumers. Sarah O’Reilly as pushed by hard against the government on gender ideology and the efforts to delete the identity of women.
“In the north Gemma Brolly’s fight for Causeway Hospital led to the resignation of the Minister for Health. She stood with farmers after the Fivemiletown slaughter. We have over 55 elected reps and local area reps working day in and day out in their communities. All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. And its directly leading to change. The impact that Aontú has had in relation to our size has been incredible.
“This government is out of touch and is out of time. They 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.
“Yes there are external factors causing fuel to spike in price, but this government is a significant driver of the high costs of fuel. The government is tax gouging families on petrol, diesel, and home heating oil. The government is allowing the ESB to €650m of profit and they are presiding over a creaking grid that leading to costly constraints, bottle necks and dispatch down,” said Mr Tóibín.
“And all the while the government roles out the red carpet for datacentres that keep us locked into costly gas. The government talks about the people who get up earlier in the morning, but their polices make most people wonder why they bother,” he added.
“Components of this government have been in power for 15 years and on a range of different issues, incompetency and in action is catching up with them.
“The juxtaposition of the Minister for Defence talking tough on defence at a meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Wicklow while having to depend on the British Royal Navy to provide security is incredible. Our government does not even have the self-awareness to be embarrassed at this. Never has a gov's words & actions been so much at odds.
“When FG came to power in 2011, the strength of the Irish Defence Forces was 9,650 personnel. Its now 7,767. In 2011, the Irish Navy had 8 operational ships patrolling our seas. Its now less than 4. FG is the biggest threat to Irish security. Aontú believes that Ireland should be independent, and we should defend ourselves.
“We oppose any effort by this government to end the Triple Lock. Military aid and membership of the Coalition of the Willing are stretching the meaning of neutrality beyond all recognition. Aontú will continue to push back on the military hawks in this government who are banging the war drums,” said Mr Tóibín.
“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,” he added.
“But we have a duty to grow membership, to grow activism and to grow the number local area representatives.
“We are at a juncture in our growth now, where need to translate support into elected representatives.
“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.”