Communications director Larissa Nolan’s digest of how Aontú made the news in the past seven days.
It was a case of Bike Shed Part II this week, as it was revealed the HSE spent €127,000 on another shelter in Kerry University Hospital.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said this latest squander shows this government is “allergic to accountability”.
He said such waste will continue without penalties and called for civil servants’ contracts to state there will be a cost to career if they spend taxpayers’ money irresponsibly. He wants to see for a Junior Minister in place, to oversee all contracts.
Said Deputy Tóibín: “They refused to enforce accountability in relation to the infamous OPW €336,000 Dail bike shed. It’s going to be repeated and will go on forever and will never stop unless someone loses their job for this cavalier waste of taxpayers’ money.
“It’s even more shocking in a cost-of-living crisis. This week we heard of young children with rare illnesses being denied life-saving drugs because of the cost of these drugs. Yet the state continues to incinerate taxpayers’ money on projects such as this. Ireland is an outlier in the world on government waste.”
Gender-neutral toilets in a newly-opened secondary school caused controversy, with boys and girls expected to share facilities.
It was the front page story in the Irish Daily Mail, with journalist Jamie McCarron reporting how parents at the 1,000 student Educate Together school in Dublin’s Harold’s Cross are outraged at the move.
Peadar Tóibín told the paper: “It’s crackpot ideology – now girls are denied space and privacy in secondary school” and asked: “Did anyone ask the parents or the students? This is leading to upset and exclusion. Common sense should prevail.”
The Meath West TD said: “Many girls are not using toilets in schools with gender-neutral toilets, because they don’t feel safe and they don’t feel comfortable.
“All this has its basis in gender ideology. It’s being done in the name of inclusivity, but students using the toilets are not consulted on whether they want this or not, and it’s leading to exclusion.”
It’s been a month now since the fuel protests brought the country to a standstill. Despite big promises from the Government of a support package, Aontú TD Paul Lawless highlighted how farmers are still waiting to see any financial supports.
Deputy Lawless said: “Not a single cent has been paid out yet under the fuel subsidy support scheme package of €100million.” He said it was scandalous how red tape around the scheme, and how it is calculated, means farmers will “still be out of pocket.”
Senator Sarah O’Reilly’s speech in the Dail impressed journalist John Kierans in the Irish Sun. He reported how she told the Seanad too many sex offenders were being handed suspended sentences.
The Cavan senator said: “Every week we see individuals with the most horrific child sex abuse materials being given suspended sentences. We need to address the strange inconsistency in sentencing.
“Where is the justice when financial crimes are treated more harshly than the abuse of children? Who are we looking after?”
Meanwhile, deputy leader Gemma Brolly spoke of the shocking murder of Katie Simpson, and the outcome of the review of how her case was handled.
The Aontú representative in Derry said “societal reform” was needed to tackle the shadow pandemic of femicide. She was speaking after an independent review found “institutional misogyny” contributed to warnings signs being missed in the initial police investigation following the murder of showjumper Katie Simpson in Co Derry in 2020.
She highlighted how the North of Ireland is understood to have one of the highest female murder rates in the world.
“Aontú recognise the urgency of this crisis and we continue to meet with various organisations in order to bring about legislative actions to assist in addressing it,” she said.
With less than two weeks’ left to voting day, by-election candidates Orla Nugent (Galway West) Ian Noel Smyth (Dublin Central) are in the final stages of the campaign trail.
I was one of a group of canvassers for Ian Noel, who knocked on former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s door in Glasnevin and he came out and talked about everything from the fuel protests to the Good Friday Agreement. Bertie was happy to pose for a picture, which we posted on Twitter.
It got the attention of journalism’s top political humourist Miriam Lord, who wrote in the Irish Times of the chance encounter.
The controversial former Fianna Fail leader is a voter in the constituency and was happy to talk about all things election. He said he was giving Aontú a vote and he likes the party’s family values and admires the leader.
Galway West candidate Orla Nugent was in the company of Peadar himself, as he spent the day on the campaign trail with her in Salthill. Labhair Peadar agus Orla le TG4 ar an gcanbhás.
