Aontu select two candidates for Local Elections

Aontu, Ireland’s newest political party, will run two candidates in the upcoming Local Elections in County Wexford. Jim Codd and Elaine Cole were selected at a packed selection convention in the Farmers Kitchen this evening.

Mr Codd, a secondary school teacher at Bridgetown College, will contest the Rosslare LEA, while Mrs Cole, a mother of seven, will contest the Wexford LEA. Aontu was formed by Deputy Peadar Toibin earlier this year and seeks to be a new voice in politics.

“Our party was formed as a direct result of the 8th amendment referendum,” Mrs Cole said. “Deputy Toibin put forward several amendments to the abortion bill and was blocked by the political establishment on every single one. These weren’t radical proposals but simple, compassionate amendments, including the right to give medical attention to a child who survived an abortion seriously injured and the provision of pain relief for the unborn child after 20 weeks gestation. These amendments were heartlessly voted down by the main political parties.”

Mr Codd said that Aontu was a last stand against the corruption and lack of will in the Irish political establishment. “Aontu is a line in the sand. We’re living in a country where people are ostracised for expressing democratic opinions at odds with the mainstream. We have 750,000 people on hospital waiting lists, a total lack of adequate mental health services in the middle of a suicide epidemic, a prevalence of employment schemes and exploitative temporary contracts over real jobs, and 10,000 homeless people in the state. All this and little if no response from our political parties.”

“Elaine and myself are not politicians but we couldn’t sit idly by and watch the complete collapse of our Republic. Faith in the political system has never been lower and voter turn out continues to fall in local elections. Aontu will be the antidote to this malaise, but we'll need help. We are a new party looking for members and supporters.”