Communications director Larissa Nolan’s digest of how Aontú made the news in the past seven days.
The week began with Aontú out in front on the Jim Glennon character references controversy.
Leader Peadar Tóibín was on the front pages on Monday, calling for all parties to do an audit of their TD’s record of providing such references in criminal trials.
Deputy Tóibín told John Drennan in the Irish Daily Mail: “Such court references should be registered by parties and put on public record. No TD should use their elected office, ever, to provide a reference for an individual for reducing their custodial sentence, in such a serious case. It’s a shocking misuse of public office.”
He later told how he is bringing forward a bill to amend the Ethics Act to ensure all TDs register such court references annually, along with their financial interests.
A good news story was the Presidential Voting Rights Bill, which passed second stage on Thursday and now moves to Committee stage.
This will ensure the presidential election is an all-Ireland vote, with citizens both sides of the border
The party leader told the Dáil: “A person from the North of Ireland can campaign in the presidential election. They can put their name in as a candidate. They can win the presidential election and be the president of this country.
“But they can’t vote in it. This is a legacy bill – it transforms this country in its ability to include everybody in the island of Ireland.”
Abortion was back on the agenda, with the Social Democrats’ bill to get rid of the three-day thinking time given to women ahead of it.
Tóibin said an end the 72-hour reflection period should be rejected. “The Social Democrats seek to delete the three-day reflection period.“ It would be a mistake to delete it. This is often one of the biggest decisions a woman would make in her life. It is an irreversible decision.It is compassionate to provide a period of time to allow women to reflect on whether to proceed to an abortion or not.”
The party was ahead on highlighting the crippling cost of living in Ireland, with customers being rinsed, left, right and centre. Nowhere is the price shock more evident than in the cost of the household food shop, which has soared.
The Aontú leader gave a blistering speech in the Dail, where he told how the cost of our weekly shop has gone up by 40% since 2021, and how families are now paying €3,000 a year more on groceries than four years ago.
He told how butter has gone up by more than a euro and chicken that used to cost a fiver is now €12. He was ahead of the curve – the next day, the Irish Times’ consumer guru Conor Pope told how Kerrygold costs less in Germany than it does in Ireland, where a half pound of butter is €1.99 in Berlin, but €2.99 in Ballybunion, leading to online wags joking: “I can’t believe it’s not butter gouging”.
Government policies are behind much of it, with the M50 a case in point. Our parliamentary question on the toll revenue showed the income doubled in ten years, to €216million last year.
It went up by €4million between 2024 and 2025 and a further €34million was collected in the first two months of this year.
Aontú’s campaign to Scrap The M50 Tolls is needed more than ever. The motorway has paid for itself more than 30 times over, yet we’re still paying for it.
Paul Lawless raised the case of domestic abuse victim Margaret Loftus as an example of need for the removal of the in camera rule in the family law courts.
Ms Loftus, a garda from Ballina, suffered violence at the hands of her husband, fellow garda Trevor Bolger who has since been convicted of assault and threats to kill.
She asked gardai to state how many officers have such orders against them and she was told it is not known due to the in camera courts rule, which means the case is heard in private and all parties anonymous
Deputy Lawless told the Dáil: “That is a shocking revelation. The secrecy around family law cases creates a breeding ground for corruption.
“This is a woman who endured a brutal attack put against a wall and kicked repeatedly and left huddled with her children. She was speaking under Dail privilege.
“She said the in camera rule needs to go – it is having a devastating effect on victims.”
Senator Sarah O’Reilly also highlighted the issue of domestic violence across multiple media outlets with her figures that showed callouts by gardai are still rising, year on year.
In certain parts of the country, the rise is as high as 16%. Senator O’Reilly said: “The continued rise of domestic violence callouts must be taken seriously.
“It is dangerous for us as a society to ever write it off as simply a sign of increased confidence of victims to call for help.
“We know that domestic violence and femicide are tied together, with 90 per cent of women knowing their victims and the vast majority happening in the supposed safety of their own home.”
Derry Aontú representative Emmet Doyle was on the front page of Derry Now, where he highlighted how Stormont’s Department of Justice refused to release any documents on Domestic Abuse Protection Orders. It’s understood not one such order has been issued in the five years they are on the statute book.
In other news, our by-election candidates Ian Noel Smyth in Dublin Central and Orla Nugent in Galway West signed their nomination papers, making them official candidates in the race.
Ian Noel Smyth highlighted the waste and folly of Dublin City Council sinking €10million into its Wood Quay offices for refurbishments, when it is due to be demolished in 2029.
While Orla Nugent in Connemara said we need to fight to ensure rural communities are not left behind, in the face of the threat of a corporate takeover of seaweed affecting Galway.
