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INDEPENDENT TD FOR the Louth constituency Peter Fitzpatrick has announced that he won’t be running for re-election.
The former Louth GAA football manager was first elected to the Dáil as a Fine Gael TD in the 2011 general election.
In 2018, he then resigned from Fine Gael and stated that he would run in the next election as an Independent.
Fitzpatrick had campaigned for the Eighth Amendment to be retained and in a statement in 2018 announcing his resignation from Fine Gael, he said he had “not been given the same support from Fine Gael as [he] had given them”.
Reacting to Fitzpatrick’s resignation from Fine Gael in 2018, then party leader and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “I know that he has been unhappy for some time and was a strong opponent of holding a referendum on the Eighth Amendment.”
Fitzpatrick went on to be re-elected as an Independent TD in the 2020 general election.
In a statement today, Fitzpatrick said his decision to not contest the next general election was “not made lightly”.
Fitzpatrick added that one of his “most important campaigns was the opposition of the legalisation of abortion in Ireland of which I felt very strongly about”.
He thanked the public of Louth and east Meath but added that “now is the right time to explore new options and opportunities”.
Fitzpatrick’s intention to not stand for re-election means three of Louth’s five current TDs will not be putting their names forward for the next general election.
He follows Fine Gael’s Fergus O’Dowd and Sinn Féin’s Imelda Munster in announcing their intention to step down ahead of the next election.
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Who
Genuinely never heard of the guy but good that he’s gone if he’s against a womans right to healthcare
@denis silver: maybe that’s why you never heard of him, he didn’t tow the line
@mickey mac: he’s allowed his opinion,the same as I am allowed to say he’s a backward, anti womens choice weirdo
@denis silver: Healthcare. At least have the balls to be honest.
@daragh harmon: It’s a womans body, so it’s her healthcare issue.
What bit am I being dishonest about
Rumour has it he’s planning a trip in a time machine back to the 1940s.
All part of Mary Lou’s masterplan! The Great Replacement is in full swing! TAL
@Alan Kennedy: calm down there wee son ,go back upstairs and try on your KKK uniform
@sean weir: Nothing wrong with a KKK uniform. The way this country is being repopulated with illegals you might need to drop into my shop for a fitting.
Another do-nothing ex sports “celebrity” who used his minor fame to get elected and then oppose women getting healthcare. Maybe Irish people should elect people who are passionate about chaming the country for the better and not some lad who used to manage a GAA team. Anyway, he’ll be able to collect a substantial pension for the rest of his life and I suppose that’s all he really cared about in the first place.
@Sylvia Power: or maybe a eurovision host, or a dancing jockey
@mickey mac: or maybe you, if you’ve ever achieved anything.
Bad news coming down the road just like next door in Britain, lots of them getting out before the place explodes. Louth politicians of all hues failed the people there, Dundalk & Drogheda riddled with crime & then they allowed Roderic O Gorman make fools of them with the D Hotel in Drogheda. Tullamore yesterday, where next & we are taking in record numbers every week, housing them, medical cards & social welfare, it won’t end well.
Another one bites the dust
Jumps before been pushed
He with the impenetrable Louth accent. You wouldn’t know if it was English or Urdu he was speaking.
@Mark Reville: Urdu is probably more widely spoken there these days anyway
That’s Imelda Munster, Fergus O’Dowd & Peter Fitzpatrick all sitting Louth TDs, not seeking re-election.
@Damien McDaid: Don’t worry Damien, FF have a washed out minor TV personality with no history in public service, FG might try putting forward yet one who had to drop out of the local elections for FG after it was discovered she was seeking payments to not object to planning applications, anyway none of them do anything only get jobs for close relations and friends as their assistants, so nothing to worry about things will carry on as normal.
@Eddie Garvey: What qualifications do recommend – trainee barman, serving time in an abattoir, practical experience with explosives or maybe AK45s.
@Vincent Alexander: I don’t know, maybe previous experience serving the community by serving on commities that improve society for the general public, maybe not requesting back handers and home renovations to not object to badly needed housing. You have a little think about it, write down some suggestions and show them to an adult and see if they get you an ice cream for coming up with some good ideas
@Eddie Garvey: Add to the list of qualifications the careers of the gentlemen republicans of South Armagh that cost Louth Co Co up to € 100,000 disposing of washed diesel waste. SF are the biggest objectors to house building. You have come up with one example and made a mountain out of it. Just look in the ranks of SF and you will find many more. Didn’t MCGuinness and Adams do well out of the Terror Campaign.
@Vincent Alexander: I’ve never voted Sinn Fein in my life so I don’t really know what your talking about and why your directing it at me. Why you are obsessed with Sinn Fein is something you should talk to someone about, no doubt they would argue that your obsession is good news for them if the only argument you make is don’t vote for them or the bogeyman will get you. As an aside didn’t Eamon DeValera order or at least allow FF hacks to murder Michael Collins… Pot Kettle Black
@Eddie Garvey: You were critical of FF and FG and not SF. Their candidates deserve criticism equally if you are non partisan. As regards DeValera et alia, – 1916, the War of Independence and the Civil War cannot be justified.
That’s a subtitles worker put of work .
Two words spring to mind, rats and sinking ship!
If ever the phrase ‘don’t let the door hit you on the way out’ was appropriate……
have your say