The DUP Are a Case Study in Political Self Harm and Dysfunction - Tóibín
Speaking on the DUP’s collapsing Stormont, Aontú leader and Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has slammed the political games being played by the DUP to boost their collapsing poll numbers.
Deputy Tóibín stated “The DUP have misjudged every step of way during this Brexit Crisis. The DUP are a Case Study in political self-harm. The problem is, the citizens of the north of Ireland are the collateral damage of their inept strategic nightmare. This crisis also shows how deeply broken Stormont is. Stormont is in need of radical reform. No political party should be allowed in future to throw their toys out of the pram and shut down the political system. We all cannot be held hostage by one party’s compete dysfunction. The DUP are playing dangerous brinkmanship politics for years on end which distract from the real bread & butter issues facing the people. They are ramping up tensions and could well put people’s lives in danger. Their leadership strategy is to look behind them at what the TUV are doing. All the while their intransigence amplifies the Sinn Féin vote. The DUP are a gift that keeps on giving to Sinn Féin”.
“Stormont – with the DUP, UUP, SDLP, Sinn Féin and Alliance in situ – has presided over a time of spiralling costs and rapidly rising economic inequality in the North. In a 10 year period, the Stormont parties cut over 880 beds from the health service – devastating the Healthcare System before Covid struck. More than 650,000 people in the North live in either relative or absolute poverty. There has been a 326+% increase in gas prices from December 2020 to December 2021. A 22% increase alone from November to December, with December gas prices hitting a record high. House Prices up £25,000 in little over a year! Electricity prices up more than 21%. Across the North, there are over 43,000 people on social housing waiting lists but over two thirds of those on waiting lists are statutorily in housing distress. Meanwhile, over 4,200 people are homeless on our streets. Amnesty for British crimes against the people of the North during the Troubles. An extreme abortion regimen being imposed on the north. The list goes on. Aontú offers a grassroots alternative to the Stormont Dysfunction and which will champion the bread and butter issues that affect our communities.”
“From threats of violence, to cosying up to paramilitaries, to now collapsing Stormont, their ‘at all costs’ opposition to the Protocol negotiated to facilitate their Brexit is hurting our communities and society. The DUP have opposed every peace agreement in the North, and have rejected every measure to achieve the Brexit they voted for. Today’s actions are just the latest instalment in the obstructionist politics of a party out of touch with the issues facing families each and every day in the North. Stormont is broken, and the Establishment parties avoiding the issues that matter most to our community.”
