Cllr Jonathan O'Brien to Contest Cork North Central

Cllr Jonathan O’Brien to Contest Cork North Central

At a Sinn Féin constituency convention last night, Cllr Jonathan O’Brien was unanimously selected to contest the constituency of Cork North Central at the next election. He was nominated by Cllr Thomas Gould and seconded by Cllr Chris O’Leary.

Accepting the nomination, Cllr O’Brien said:

“Never before has politics as usual in this country been so obviously bankrupt. Never before has there been such a crying need for change.

“Today the government has announced it will be pouring further billions into the country’s zombie banks. The people who will pay for this, through pay cuts, reduced services and higher taxes, are ordinary Irish citizens. Tonight many of them are asking “When is this going to stop?”

“The bill to rescue the banking system has now topped €50 billion – with no guarantee it will not rise further. This banking crisis is not some act of God that is beyond the government’s control. It is the result of bad decisions and bad policy. The decision to continue inflating a property bubble when many warned it was unsustainable. The decision not to impose proper regulation on the banks. And most recently, the decision to give priority to the interests of international bondholders over those of Irish citizens.

“What the government is doing – imposing a possible €4 billion in cuts in services so it can hand over the money to international speculators who invested in Anglo-Irish Bank – is criminal.

“Rather than throwing good money after bad, the government should close the doors of Anglo-Irish and force the financial gamblers who invested in it to take their losses.

“Sinn Féin will never be party to an act of economic treason such as this government is committing. The next election will be a referendum on the government’s handling of the economy. Sinn Féin has increased our vote at every election in the constituency, and I am confident that this time we will take a seat. A vote for Sinn Féin is a vote to get Fianna Fail out. It is also a vote for a party that will put the interests of Irish citizens first and will not be bullied by EU commissioners or international bondholders.”


For further information contact Jonathan O’Brien @085/2133907