Mayo Aontú councillor Paul Lawless to run in general election

AONTÚ’S Cllr Paul Lawless has been officially selected to represent the party in the upcoming general election in Mayo. 

Cllr Lawless, who became the first and only Aontú member ever elected to Mayo County Council in June, is standing in his second general election.

The Knock-based school teacher previously stood in the 2020 general election, where he received 2,574 first-preference votes and was eliminated after the fourth count. 

In a lengthy statement announcing his candidacy, Cllr Lawless highlighted housing, immigration, infrastructure, health services, policing and regional development among his list of priorities. 

He branded what he called the ‘mismanagement; of the country’s economic prosperity is ‘truly disgraceful’. 

“Owning a house, in a country that is awash with money is now a dream for people and this is an absolute scandal,” he elaborated. 

“We have 14,000 homeless people in this country, many of whom lost their homes to the very banks their taxes paid to bail out. It is one of the biggest injustices of our times.”

If elected, he vowed to campaign for ‘to ensure Mayo gets its fair share of investment and attention’, which would include the upgrading of the N17 and installing a rail link at Ireland West Airport Knock. 

“We need to elect Politicians who are unafraid to stand up and stand out and who genuinely value accountability,” he said. 

“This Government is failing the people on so many levels, in so many different ways and it is time to evict them.” 

Aontú currently has one TD elected to Dáil Éireann: party leader Peadar Tóibín. 

If elected, Cllr Lawless would be the first Aontú representative from Mayo ever to serve as TD.

He will be contesting one of five seats in the newly redrawn Mayo constituency at the next general election - which must take place within a year. 

Minister Alan Dillon and Keira Keogh have been selected to run for Fine Gael while Senator Lisa Chambers and Minister Dara Calleary will stand for Fianna Fáil. 

Independents Cllr Patsy O’Brien and Stephen Kerr have also announced their candidacy, as has People Before Profit’s Joe Daly.