AONTÚ TD AND party leader Peadar Tóibín has announced he will be contesting in the Midlands North West constituency in the European elections in June.

He, along with his party colleague Patrick Murphy who will be contesting in Ireland South, was selected by the party’s Ard Comhairle to seek election in the five-seater constituency.

The Meath West TD said regardless of the outcome of the European election, he will still contest the next general election in Ireland – set to take place sometime before next spring. 

If an MEP leaves the parliament during its term, they can choose to fill the vacant European seat with a replacement.

There are no by-elections for the European Parliament, so if an MEP dies or resigns the vacancy is filled from a list that must be published before the close of nominations. Each candidate may submit a list of up to six replacement candidates to the returning officer.

In a statement about his selection, Tóibín cited issues such as the cost of living and the impact it’s having on family farms, housing and healthcare. The TD claimed two-thirds of those in families in farming “cannot make a living” anymore.

The party leader said: “Aontú wants to use these European elections as crusade to crowbar accountability back into governance in this country. Without accountability there is no change and citizens will be left on the hook for increasing waste”.

Tóibín added in this statement that Aontú are a “Euro-critical political party” and want a to see more cooperation on issues such as trade, international relations and tackling climate change. 

Tóibín said: “We want to see more powers returned to national parliaments. We need MEPs that actually represent Irish people, rather than ignore them.

“Aontú will use the European elections as a platform to fight for practical common
sense solutions to the increasing damage of this government,” he added.

—

This work is co-funded by Journal Media and a grant programme from the European Parliament. Any opinions or conclusions expressed in this work are the author’s own. The European Parliament has no involvement in nor responsibility for the editorial content published by the project. For more information, see here.