Donnelly wants to know what you had for dinner on the 8th of August. We want to know when will the health service be opened.

Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has expressed concern over the governments loss of direction in dealing with the crisis that the country is in currently. He stated “that the FF, FG and Green government want to know what you had for dinner on the 8th of August but still don’t know when Breast Check or Face to Face Mental Health Consultations will recommence is deeply worrying”.

“The government is high on regulations at this point but low on cop on. Its shocking to say but calamity coalition is doing more damage than Covid to whole swathes of our society. If allowed to, they will drive our pub trade into the ground.

The pubs are closed too long. There is no reason that they cannot reopen while adhering to the same guidance as food pubs and restaurants. Knowing the details of a person’s meal on the 8th of August will not assist in defeating a virus. It will though defeat people’s ability to stay sane and in business”.

“Across the country, several pubs, restaurants and hotels have stated that the requirement that they collect what customers ate and keep on record for at least 28 days is simply a step too far. The hospitality sector has bent over backwards to reopen consistent with regulations, has tightened its belt as much as humanly possible to survive national and local lockdowns without government support, and has already followed illogical government regulations consistently ‘to fight Covid-19.’ I am calling on every member of the Oireachtas, and the Irish people to support these brave establishments against the bizarre government overregulation.”

“The Minister is acting as if pubs, restaurants and hotels are to blame for the uptick in cases of the Coronavirus. Not the failure to deal with the hundreds of thousands coming into the country from non-Green list countries, the failure of 25% of people to show up for their scheduled Covid test, or the mismanagement of meat packing factories, direct provision centres and nursing homes. The government is acting to make the hospitality industry the fall guy for their blunders, and we should support our pubs, restaurants and hotels that are refusing to be stitched up or demonized.”

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.