Aontú will host its 2026 Ard Fheis in the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise on Saturday 7th March. Hundreds of delegates are expected to gather to debate and discuss well over 100 policy motions. According to An Teachta Tóibín;
“Aontú has experienced significant growth in the last 2 years. Just under 100,000 people voted for Aontú in the last general elections. The party had the largest increase in votes of any party in those elections.
Aontú has increased its representation from 4 elected reps at council and in the Oireachtas to its current size of 13, including Paul Lawless TD and our Seanadóir Sarah O’Reilly. The party is consistently polling between 5% and 6%. We have well over 2,000 members and have just welcomed two brand new Councillors on board in the last few weeks; Cllr Peter O’Donohue from Cork East and Cllr Darren Jack Kelly in Fingal East. We are currently in discussion with more elected representatives and hope to announce our next recruits in March.
Aontú has 60 functioning Cumann throughout the 32 counties and we are currently ramping up for the bye elections in Galway West with Orla Nugent and in Dublin Central with Ian Noel Smith. Aontú is also preparing for the Stormont and Local elections in the north of Ireland in 2027. We will be announcing the opening of our first office north of the border very shortly. This year we also founded Friends of Aontú USA for Irish Americans seeking to support Irish politics.
I am immensely proud of the impact that we have had in that time. We were the only party that sided with the people in the last referendums. We were the only party that opposed the Hate Speech Bill. We were the only party that voted against the Climate Action Bill that has scuppered infrastructural projects such as the Galway Bypass. Our policy of a stricter immigration system is being copied word for word by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. We nearly succeeded to helping Maria Steen being nominated from the presidential elections. We were the only party to highlight the democratic deficit that resulted in the highest spoiled vote in the history of the state. We are the only party that is holding the government to account on the danger of puberty blockers and gender ideology.
We have been a lone voice for many years on the Tusla and the dysfunction in child welfare services in Ireland. We were first to call for Simon Harris to resign after the shocking death of Harvey Morrison Sharrat, putting him under pressure and helping to force the government to move on CHI. We have highlighted more than any other party the issue of the dysfunctional planning system that is holding up flood defences, rail lines, water infrastructure and house. We have been one of the strongest voices on the issue of accountability and government waste and we have campaigned for Costing of Living alleviation measures such as scrapping the M50 tolls. Aontú has fought for victims and survivors in the north of Ireland and has published clear practical steps towards Irish Unity. Aontú was the party that went to Strasbourg to lobby MEPs to vote against Mercosur. This work is the tip of the iceberg and is only the start. Aontú seeks to enter government after the next election and this Ard Fheis and this Ard Fheis is a stepping stone in that process.
I am looking forward to welcoming members and journalists to county Laois on Saturday the 7th of March for a fruitful debate, catch-ups and looking to the future of our movement.”
