Tóibín selected to run for SF in Meath West

Cllr Peadar Tóibín was unanimously selected as the Sinn Fein candidate for Meath West for the next general election qat a convention in Navan's Ardboyne Hotel last Thursday. He was nominated as the candidate by the Mayor of Navan, Cllr Joe Reilly, who has been the party's candidate in the last five general elections. Cllr Reilly said Cllr Tóibín had been a republican activist for over 10 years. "During that time, he has been instrumental in the organisational growth of the party in the county, holding the position of PRO for five years and now chairing the organisation in the county. Peadar has been a councillor for only two-and-a-half years and, in that time, he has brought his considerable economics and enterprise development background to bear in our efforts to tackle the jobs crisis in Meath," he said. In accepting the nomination, Cllr Tóibín said it was a massive honour for him. "Sinn Féin is the oldest political party in Ireland. It has proudly stood up for the interest of all Irish people, North and South, for generations. Indeed, we in Sinn Féin have been the engine of change in this country for over 100 years. In 2010, Meath is crying out for change. "In this county, we have been loyal to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for generations and it has cost us dearly. Meath has been relegated to a housing estate, devoid of industry and jobs without even a whimper from our so called representatives." He said Meath had the highest increase in the rate of unemployment in the country. "Meath receives less funding from enterprise organisations than any other comparable counties in Ireland. Indeed, Kildare gets 12 times more jobs per capita from the IDA than Meath. Louth gets seven times more jobs investment from Enterprise Ireland than Meath. Even Wicklow receives four times more investment than Meath. This is a shocking indictment of the disastrous representation that we get from our existing TDs. If TDs fail to deliver, they should go," he said. "It doesn't have to be this way. Meath is populated by a young, well-educated population. If given our fair share of resources and infrastructure, I have no doubt that we can get the county back to work," he declared. Cllr Tóibín said that Sinn Féin was the third largest party in the three-seat constituency of Meath West. "Fianna Fáil's vote is on the floor and they will struggle. However, they will still be in contention for the second seat. Fine Gael in Meath has proved toothless over the last 15 years and, without a real political heavyweight on the ballot paper, they will be short of the necessary votes for two seats. "Labour, despite being the darlings of the Dublin 4 media, are too far behind in Meath West to be in contention. Sinn Féin is the only party in a position to create change and take the third seat. The choice is clear. The last seat is between Fianna Fail and Sinn Féin," Cllr Tóibín said.