Local TD rules out joining new political party
Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan has said she has absolutely no intention of becoming a member, parliamentary or otherwise, of the Independent Ireland Party currently headed by her Rural Independent Group colleagues, Michael Collins, and Richard O’Donoghue.
Deputy Nolan was speaking after being invited to take part in discussions with Independent Ireland Party representatives last week:
“I had the enormous privilege of being elected in 2020 by the people of Laois Offaly as a fully independent TD. It is my firm intention to again run as a fully independent TD whenever the next general election is called,” said Deputy Nolan.
“While I wish my colleagues well, I have seen up close and personal how political party structures really work; how they start off with good intentions but end up suffocating genuinely independent thought and how they often operate behind a mirage of authentic democratic engagement.”
“I have no wish to become complicit in fostering or presenting such an illusion of ‘change’ to my constituents when the reality is quite often completely at variance with that.”
“We do not need a model of political engagement that is a watered-down version of the kind of establishment politics that we already have in abundance,” the local TD said this week.
“I passionately believe that what Irish politics really needs is the courage of the outsider and the change-maker. The people need someone who is not driven by an ambition to get their feet under a ministerial table. Irish politics needs people who can present in a constructive and as collaborative a way as possible a critique of government policy while also offering alternatives and solutions.”
“A genuinely independent TD can transform and challenge the dominant narrative on any given issue and is unrestricted in terms of being answerable to anyone except the electorate.”
“I intend to offer a relentless work ethic, a strong, passionate, and fearless voice for Offaly in the next election and to remain an Independent TD not just in name but in substance,” concluded Deputy Nolan.