Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín focused his keynote speech at the party’s ardfheis predominantly on Government waste.
He went on the offensive against the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael leaders, telling delegates “Government incompetence is incinerating your money and slowing key projects to a halt”.
Listing scandal after spending scandal, including the Leinster House €336,000 “Gucci” bike shelter and the €2.4 billion delayed national children’s hospital, he took repeated swipes at the Coalition.
On immigration, he said Government policy “has been chaotic and has damaged the cohesion of this country”. Six years ago “Aontú was alone is stating that we as a country must have an open, respectful conversation about immigration”.
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“If you don’t allow people to discuss immigration you push the discussion underground where it will be harvested and manipulated by bad actors for their own purposes. This is exactly what happened.”
It was music to cheering party delegates’ ears.
This focus on waste of public funds, “incompetent political leadership” and immigration has clear echoes of Reform UK, Nigel Farage‘s party which campaigns on a platform of “common sense”. Aontú’s stance, like Reform‘s, is about “not being afraid to stand against the prevailing winds”, although Mr Tóibín and party delegates reject the comparison.
Maria Byrne, from Kilcullen, Co Kildare joined the party because of “disillusionment with Fianna Fáil” who were not listening “to the concerns of ordinary people”.
Dismissing any likeness between Aontú and Nigel Farage’s populist party in the UK, she says she is “left-leaning on political issues”, adding: “Some people think that Aontú is a right-wing party because it is pro-life. I’m pro-life in that it is a human rights issue.”
Theresa Lynch from Cork North-West traditionally voted Fianna Fáil and joined Aontú “because I’m pro-life”. She believes Fianna Fáil “are not listening to any of our concerns”, whether about immigration, education or the HSE’s vaccination programme.
Adam O’Neill (18) from Carnew, Co Wicklow, says Reform is economically a right-wing organisation while “Aontú is left-wing”, and “we aren’t as populist or as driven by the trends of the time”.
Delegates at the ardfheis on Saturday backed a motion calling for an “outright ban” on anyone who “purposely destroyed their travel documents” entering the State. However, party members at the event in Gormanston, Co Meath, rejected a motion stating that no non-Irish citizen should be allowed to “enter the State if they have a criminal conviction”.
During the first debate at the ardfheis, on the topic of international protection, Meath councillor Emer Tóibín, the leader‘s sister, said there was “no long-term plan” for the “unsustainable” immigration system.
Delegates also supported a motion stating that only the national flag should be displayed on public buildings as public spaces should not be aligned “with any particular ideology or political stance”.
Aontú more than doubled its vote share (to 3.9 per cent) in the general election, returning two TDs – Mr Tóibín and Mayo-based Paul Lawless.
Critics claim that, like Reform, the party engages in the “culture wars” on issues like gender recognition but Mr Tóibín says “we’re just standing with the people”.
“Aontú is on the rise” because “we have a backbone, we are confident to stand against the prevailing winds of the political establishment” and “puncture the political bubble that exists in Leinster House”, says the former Sinn Féin TD.
On immigration, “compassion and common sense is where the vast majority of Irish people exist” but the Government is “in a bubble” and “not listening to the people”, Mr Tóibín adds.
