Aontú fields three candidates in Cavan local elections this June

Youth emigration, the sensitive issue of immigration, as well as housing and rural affairs, were among some of the topics discussed at the Aontú European and Local Election campaign launch in the Cavan Crystal Hotel last Friday evening, April 12.

The three local election hopefuls for the Aontú party comprise current county councillor Sarah O’Reilly (Bailieborough-Cootehill MD), second-time candidate Gráinne McPhillips (Ballyjamesduff MD) and newcomer Tinko Tinev (Cavan-Belturbet MD).

Party Leader Peadar Tóibín chaired the meeting where he also announced he will contest a seat in the European elections in the Midlands North West constituency in June. The Meath West also intends to seek re-election as a TD for the five-year-old party in the next General Election.

Should he be successful in both endeavours, Deputy Tóibín revealed that Gráinne McPhillips is on the list of substitutes to fill his seat in the EU.

“There’s a significant chance that one of your own could be representing yourselves in Brussels in the future,” he said.

A ‘young point of view’ - McPhillips

Ms McPhillips failed to secure a seat in the 2019 local elections. However she is hopeful of success in June. She launched her campaign on Friday evening to an audience of around 30 people.

“I’m passionate about representing the views of my community,” she said, adding that she can offer a “young point of view” and a “female perspective” to the council chamber.

The primary school principal believes her experience in teaching also puts her in an “excellent position” to understand issues faced by children and families.

“We have a serious teacher supply shortage in our country,” she said, stating that the cost of living is currently driving teachers abroad.

In addition to this she said “vulnerable children” are being “left behind” without adequate supports.

“These children need support and it’s devastating that they are not getting them.”

For families, she said it is “extremely difficult” to source affordable childcare.

“The government needs to properly invest in childcare services and give them the support they need.”

Ms McPhillips grew up in a rural area on a farm between Ballinagh and Kilnaleck and, as such, feels she is “very in tune” with issues facing farmers and people in rural communities.

“For young people to buy a home in rural Ireland, it’s extremely difficult due to rising house prices.

“Unfortunately, young people are choosing to leave Ireland,” she lamented.

“There is a serious brain drain happening in Ireland at the moment,” added the council hopeful, explaining that teachers, doctors, engineers and tradesmen are leaving the country.

“Where will that leave us in a number of years?” she asked.

A voice for migrants - Tinev

New candidate Bulgarian native Tinko Tinev moved to Ireland nine years ago and has been involved with Aontú for the past four years.

He described Ireland as a very “family friendly pro-life country”.

Mr Tinev is a member of the Cavan Cross Cultural Community and also Cavan’s Older People’s Council.

As a member of pro-life organisations in Cavan, Tinko is concerned about “the lack of proper care for mothers and children”.

“Many people would say that this is against the rights of women, to be pro-life, but I really don’t see it this way.

“I see it as lobbying for the rights of women so that there is a more balanced and more sensible approach.”

Mr Tinev is also involved with organisations which campaign for “alternative” sex education in schools that are “ethos based instead of just being forced”.

He said one of the “big problems” faced to date in his campaign has been a lack of bus shelters around the county.

“It’s quite surprising to me because I am a foreigner and Ireland is a very rainy country.”

Mr Tinev has been on the executive board of Cavan’s 4 Cs since 2018, where he assists with issues faced by migrants.

“I’m a migrant running for politics,” he said. “The more people we have in different positions who are migrants who understand the problems of migrants, the easier it will get for them,” continued Mr Tinev.

“It goes both ways. By meeting and engaging with the community, Irish people get to know who we are and we’re not so intimidating anymore.”

Health top of the agenda - O'Reilly

Bailieborough-Cootehill’s Sarah O’Reilly has been involved with Aontú since 2017 after resigning from Fianna Fáil which “no longer represented the views” that she held.

As a member of Cavan Hospital Campaign group, the audience heard over 8,000 people who are currently waiting for treatment.

“GP services locally are becoming less and less available to people,” she said, mentioning that some services have “books closed to new clients”; while others, like in Swanlinbar, have not yet had retired GPs replaced.

She said over 3,000 people died because of mistakes in Irish hospitals within the last five years, mentioning a case in University Hospital Limerick in 2019 where a man was found lying face down beside a trolley and subsequently died.

Attending a protest last year outside Cavan General Hospital, Cllr O’Reilly voiced staff fears “that it was just a matter of time that something like what happened in UHL would happen in Cavan”.

The Aontú councillor claimed the focus of the HSE and the Minister for Health “seems to be introducing gender neutral terms into the HSE literature and pushing at every opportunity and increase in abortion and late-term abortion”.

As a member of the Joint Policing Committee she said “crime, unprovoked violence, sexual assault and murder has been steadily increasing in towns and villages across the country.”

Cllr O’Reilly also relayed concerns about the state of the roads with local authorities having been “starved” of funds since 2008.

She also said that the current housing crisis has “hit Cavan hard” with “high percentages” of families living in homes with three generations and mentioned a case where a couple who both had disabilities had been evicted after their rent went from €700 to €1200 a month.

“These are the kind of stories that I am dealing with every single day and it’s heart breaking.”

Sarah also voiced her support for farmers in the fodder and slurry crisis and for women’s rights.

“We were the only party that wanted to keep the mná in the law, and the mná won,” she said, a comment which drew applause from the audience as she referenced the ‘no no’ result on the March 8 referendum.

Immigration - a ‘sensitive’ issue

Mr Tóibín, meanwhile, addressed the party’s stance on immigration, describing it as a “big” and “very sensitive” issue.

“We are a Republican political party; we believe that everybody is equal, and the colour of a person’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of their eyes.”

Between 2019-2023 there were 4,138 deportation orders issued. Total deportations carried out amounted to 533, which does not include people who left voluntarily.

“We are spending hundreds of millions of euros to differentiate between those who need help and those who don’t need help.

“At the end of the system the outcome for both sides is exactly the same,” Mr Tóibín claimed.

Audience views

Seamus McPhilips from Ballinagh attended the campaign launch and gave his thoughts following the meeting.

“Aontú is probably the party to come and they’re the only ones that seem to be pushing against all these unsavoury, unpopular issues that’s trying to be forced down people’s throats,” he said, adding “the referendum was proof of it”.

“Aontú is the way to go, I think it was a very constructive meeting.”

Caroline Moore is a primary school teacher from County Monaghan who attended Friday’s meeting.

“It’s good to see that there is pushback happening,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be somebody that comes from a background that would lean towards supporting Aontú,” Caroline said.

“Certainly at the moment we need to actually support people who are willing to challenge a very left-leaning set of policies.”

“I thought it’s really enlightening to hear that they have thought about something a little bit bigger than just the small picture,” she said,

“I think, particularly what made me want to come, was that Aontú was the only political party that clearly said ‘no no’ in the referendum,” stated Caroline.