Why You Should Vote for Aontú – by Carl Duffy

 Disclaimer: I’d like to emphasise these are not the personal views of Jude Collins, and are solely the views of the author – Carl Duffy.

PS. Jude here. Carl’s views are of course his and not necessarily mine. But I’d emphasise that when I put a guest blog up, it’s not because I agree or disagree – I just think it’s worth reading.

Elections in the North of Ireland are often seen as nothing more than a proxy vote on constitutional preference. The First-past-the-post electoral system encourages one to vote for the lesser of two evils, and as a result we can often overlook how unaligned we are with a particular party providing we’re aligned on the dominant political question. However, can one even be considered to have principles if they’re willing to back or step aside for a party that now undermines them.

Irish reunification should be about creating a true democracy for Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. As an Aontú candidate for the upcoming Westminster election I’m often asked why one should vote for me or the party I now represent. Some Republicans support Aontú primarily because of their pro-life stance; however my allegiance to the party is more  centred around strengthening our democracy.

Democracy is extremely uncommon by historical standards and only about 22 of the world’s current democracies have survived for longer than half a century. Slave abolitionist Wendell Phillips warned that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Given the fragility of democracy one must always be guarded against those who chip away at it. The constitutional question is often thought about in terms of ‘orange and green’ but I would argue it’s more helpful to ask oneself which arrangement produces a stronger democracy. If every voter in the North of Ireland united behind one party in this upcoming election, that would still only yield a combined vote share of less than 2.8% of the seats in Westminster, yet in a United Ireland this scenario would probably help a party form part of a coalition Government. In other words, partition is a massive hindrance to allowing people in the six counties having control over their own affairs.

Therefore, I would suggest any true democrat should reject parties that do not actively seek to end the democratic paralysis of partition. What self-respecting democrat can seriously advocate that we remain part of UK, where the 97.2% of MPs who are located in Britain – not Ireland – ultimately dominate policy? Anyone familiar with debates in the House of Commons will quickly realise the 6 counties are a mere footnote. Amongst the parties of Irish Unity, Aontú are in my view the most committed to greater democratisation of Irish society. Aontú supports greater devolution of powers from Westminster and proposes any potential MPs present themselves at Leinster House instead. Inch by inch powers should be decentralised from the Westminster Government which has never had any legitimacy in Ireland. The people of Ireland are perfectly capable of governing themselves.

Aontú were among the few who supported freedom of speech when draconian legislation which would’ve permitted Gardaí to enter people’s homes and search their devices for ‘offensive’ content was voted through the Dáil. The parties who supported such authoritarian measures cannot be trusted custodians of democracy if they’re willing to attack one of the pillars of any free society i.e. freedom of speech.

Some parties have decided to push referendums that no-one wants and even suggested they’ll be re-run if they don’t pass. Why have some strands of Irish Republicanism started ignoring their base and are instead becoming more concerned with pushing unpopular and nonsensical ideologies? Why has political correctness infected the movement, which has absolutely nothing to do with Irish unity. Why has common sense been abandoned in favour of ideology? These are unhelpful and wasteful distractions that hinders our ability to tackle the bread-and-butter issues.

Aontú are perhaps the only party that hasn’t abandoned common sense and still genuinely listens to people. Compassion and common sense are at the heart of what the party stands for. When contentious issues such as immigration are brought up, they recognise the need for compassion towards those fleeing hardship whilst being realistic that the levels of people entering the country needs to be sustainable.

Some other parties have dismissed those voicing reasonable concerns on this issue as bigoted or ‘far right’, whereas Aontú listens to the people and concurs the Irish Government’s handling of the refugee process is a disaster. The party is of the view that anyone who destroys their travel documents should be sent home. Likewise, anyone entering Ireland with a criminal record shouldn’t be allowed in.

I’d urge anyone who supports the greater democratisation of society, and prefers critical thinkers over ‘progressive’ ideologues to consider which party most aligns with them in this upcoming election. Perhaps, these are more abstract reasons to vote for a party but without a strong democracy real change isn’t possible. Issues with healthcare, the economy, education etc… can only be resolved by strong participation like we see in countries like Denmark where each vote has a much greater impact on policy. Aontú are the party of democratic empowerment that will enable real change to happen