
Fine Gael expressing tears of concern for rural Ireland is a sure sign of a General Election – Paul Lawless, Aontú
Paul Lawless, Aontú's Claremorris Representative has said that statements made in the Mayo News by Fine Gael General Election candidate Alan Dillon last week are “indicative of an early election”.
Mr Lawless said:
“When Fine Gael start fawning pity for rural Ireland and making promises all of a sudden, it normally means there is an election on the cards. Last week their General Election candidate for Mayo made calls for a ‘campaign’ to encourage emigrants to return home to live and work in Mayo. Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy. The reason why many of our young people are abroad is because it is not possible for them to live and work in Mayo, due to the lack of jobs and investment in our region, on the part of our Fine Gael government. People are leaving Mayo because there’s little opportunity for them here.
“Mr Dillon has also claimed that now is the ‘optimal’ time to bring people home. Tragically, many people seeking to come home are worried about whether the boom-bust politics of the government will see this country slip into another recession. Not to mention a housing shortage, a creaking healthcare system with over one million people on waiting lists, 1.124 million Irish citizens to be precise. And an underfunded rural school transport system which has left many school children in Mayo scrambling to find a way to School this September.
"As for Mr Dillon’s calls for an ‘overall strategy’ to encourage our emigrants to come home, I think he should be directing his concerns towards getting his Dublin-based leadership to start to look outside the M50 when it comes to jobs, investment and infrastructure. Fine Gael have been in power since 2011, why is it only now that they are expressing concern for rural Ireland?”