"If you keep voting the same way, nothing will change"

"If you keep voting the same way, nothing will change" - Peadar Tóibín TD

Speaking in advance of the Stormont election, Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has called the people of the north to vote for change and to reject the failed establishment politics of the Stormont parties.

Deputy Tóibín today said: “The people in the north of Ireland have been drastically let down by the political system and the political parties in the North of Ireland. The North of Ireland has the most dysfunctional political system in the western democratic world. This has a massive cost for the people. In the provision of public services and in the economic welfare of the people there is a perfect storm developing. Shockingly, for much of this election campaign, this reality has been ignored. Sinn Féin and the DUP say this election is about “keeping the other side out”. But, if we keep voting negatively how will anything change? These parties say that the election is about who gets the job of First Minister. But it’s not. It’s about who is able to get a family home, who is able to get a life-saving operation, who is able to afford to go to work and who can get the education that they need. This election is not about them. It’s about you”.

Deputy Tóibín continued: "In the last 15 years of the SF/DUP/SDLP/UUP/Alliance Executive the number of households on the Housing Waiting list in the North has doubled. Now the draft budget produced by the SF Minister routes 2% of the Housing budget away from building homes to fill the hole in the Health budget. In Healthcare, less is spent per patient in the North now that in any other jurisdiction on these islands. They are robbing one crisis hit department to fill the hole in another crisis hit department. Any party that limits our future to dependency on the Block Grant is doing damage to all our services. Aontú opposes the politics of dependency and seeks to develop an economic policy of ambition where we devolve taxation power and grow our economy and reduce the cost of living".

"Aontú is the party of political reform. We will reform the political institutions so that no one party can crash the institutions again. It is intolerable and would not be accepted in any other country in the world for a democratic political institution to be continuously crashed while society is in such turmoil. We will ensure that the MLAs who don’t do their job will not get paid. Aontú is the only Nationalist/Republican Human Rights party that’s competing in this election. Like many others, we have been shocked that Sinn Féin and the SDLP leadership have voted for abortion up until birth for children with disabilities. We will protect the lives of everyone in society and make sure that no mother or child is left behind", concluded Tóibín.

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.