Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has welcomed Aontú’s newest elected rep, Cllr Peter O’Donoghue, into Aontú today. An Teachta Tóibín stated:
“I am delighted to welcome Cork County Councillor Peter O’Donoghue to Aontú. Cllr O’Donoghue is a fantastic community activist who has already made a significant impact at Cork County Council on behalf of his constituents”.
Peter is a man of integrity, conviction and hard work. Peter did really well in the last local elections achieving over 1700 first preference and transfer votes. This was despite the fact that it was his first time contesting those elections. Since then, he has been the strongest voice of accountability on Cork County Council”.
“I believe that Cllr O’Donoghue will be a great voice for Cork East in the Dáil. Aontú has built up a strong Cumann in Cork East and through the hard work of Mona Stromsoe in the south of the constituency we have a strong base from which to challenge for a Dáil seat. Cork East has now become a target seat for Aontú and we will work day and night to ensure that Peter O’Donoghue gives the people of Cork East a real voice in Leinster House.
“ I am delighted to join Aontú. It is not a decision which I took lightly.
As a former independent councillor, I am used to being myself, to being able to express my opinions in whatever way I think appropriate. I feared joining a party I would be prohibited from doing this, and this would be the case in most parties, but I could see that Aontú was different.
I could see that Aontú was a party where its members are encouraged to think for themselves and speak their minds, are encouraged to challenge issues and be themselves. I could see that whilst Aontú had a very strong leader at its helm guiding the ship, in Peadar Tóibín, that it was really being led from the members on the ground, in the communities, at its grassroots. Aontú is a people powered party where the membership decide party policy.
That it is a grassroots organisation is what is most important to me. We have too much top-down dictation in political Parties, at national government level and at European Government level, for too long. The only way to counteract this and to bring power back to the people, is through grassroots political organisations such as Aontú.
I believe that I can have more impact for Cork East and for my political objectives as part of Aontú. I know there are many other Councillors across the country very close to joining Aontú and I would encourage them to make the decision now.
I look forward very much to the future. This is an exciting time! I look forward to working with Aontú’s extremely hardworking team on the ground in East and North Cork. I look forward to tackling the real issues in our communities and look forward to helping, as another cog in the wheel, to build Aontú into the political force that can and will bring accountability and common sense policies back to our way of life in Ireland.
Ar aghaidh le Chéile!
