Dillon will be Aontú's first ever general election candidate in Clare. She works in public health nursing in Kilrush.

I've seen the damage done to this county by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led governments, leading to extensive regional decline in Co. Clare. I'm a mother of four, a nurse, we are a farming family and living in a rural community. I see massive challenges in so many ways for the people I encounter daily in urban and rural life. They feel Clare is forgotten by a detached government. These factors led me to the decision to run for election because it gives me a platform to speak up for people who need a voice, who need to be heard and who want to deliver a message that change is needed.

Without doubt, it is government accountability. Our country is awash with money but it is not being spent in a productive, sustainable or beneficial way. In fact there is blatant waste, only to mention the bike shed €330000, the security hut €1.5 million, the phone pouches €9 million. Can you imagine what we could do with that money if it were directed to service provision and infrastructure in Co. Clare?

The plight of thousands of people who can not only buy a home, but who are being forced into homelessness by exorbitant rents. Our housing system is broken and that is unconscionable.