Election 2020: Peadar Tóibín targets four seats for Aontú

Aontú has called on the electorate to “think outside the political cartel” of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and to vote for its 25 general election candidates.

The party established just over a year ago by Independent Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín is targeting up to four Dáil seats.

Mr Tóibín, who left Sinn Féin over its policy to support repeal of the Eighth Amendment on abortion, is currently the party's sole TD and campaigns will focus particularly on Cllr Sarah O'Reilly, who topped the poll in the local elections in Cavan, Cllr Jim Codd in Wexford, Mary T Sweeney in Donegal, as well as retaining the Meath West seat.

Mr Tóibín described the party as a “grass-roots people powered all Ireland movement” with three councillors in the State and one in the North. The party says it has 2,000 members.

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At the launch of the party’s manifesto in Dublin he said Ireland is a deeply divided country and that Fine Gael represented division.

“The political establishment has run this country for their own vested interests and it’s time the country was run for the citizens”.

He added that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael “are two sides of the same coin and the idea that there will be any change by reverting from one to the other is simply nonsense”.

International cities

The country is divided between north and south and between those who have access to housing and health care and live in safe areas and those who do not, he said.

Regional imbalance is a “red line” issue for the party, which wants the National Framework Plan used to develop two international cities – one in the north as a balance to Belfast and one on the western seaboard as a balance to Dublin.

“Ireland is becoming a city state with an overheating capital with the worst congestion in Europe,” Mr Tóibín said.

“We have a sprawling commuter belt where workers spend three hours a day commuting from as far as Munster, Connacht and Ulster and many parents only see their children at weekends because their daily commute is so long.”

He said in the Border regions of Donegal, Cavan-Monaghan and in counties like Mayo and Kerry “so many of these places are losing their young people”.

It calls for an annual €2.2 billion investment to build 10,000 social homes every year.

It wants 10 per cent of the current health budget to go to primary care in communities and an independent oversight and risk management team to monitor and redress systematic problems in the health service.

Mr Tóibín also criticised RTÉ for failing to include the party in its small parties’ leaders debate. He said “we’re the only Dáil political party that won’t have an opportunity to debate and set forth our programme for Ireland so that people can make their decisions” and would take legal advice if excluded.

The broadcasters said however that “the RTÉ Steering Group has approved criteria for a debate involving the leaders of a number of registered political parties.

“A number of registered political parties, including three with outgoing TDs in Dáil Éireann (Independents4Change; Workers and Unemployed Action; and Aontú) do not qualify.”