Peadar Tóibín

Peadar Tóibín (; born 19 June 1974) is an Irish politician who has served as leader of Aontú since January 2019. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath West constituency since 2011. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs from 2016 to 2018. He founded Aontú in January 2019.

He was elected as a Sinn Féin candidate in 2011, but resigned from the party on 15 November 2018, primarily due to his opposition to the party's stance on abortion.

Political career

While studying in University College Dublin, Tóibín was a member of Fianna Fáil and an active member of the UCD branch, the Kevin Barry Cumann. He joined Sinn Féin in 1998. Speaking in 2020, Tóibín commented on his departure from Fianna Fáil by saying "I felt that Fianna Fáil had good people within them, but a lot of the people in Fianna Fáil were career ambitious for themselves and the ideology and the objectives were secondary or weren't as important".

Sinn Féin (2004–2018)

At the 2004 local elections, he stood unsuccessfully for Navan Town Council, and for the Navan local electoral area of Meath County Council. He was co-opted onto Navan Town Council in November 2007, and held that seat at the 2009 local elections, when he was again unsuccessful in the county council election.

Tóibín was suspended from the Sinn Féin parliamentary party for six months in July 2013, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.

He called for a 'No' vote in the 2018 Referendum on the Eighth Amendment. He and his party colleague Carol Nolan, who had been suspended from Sinn Féin for voting against policy on the abortion issue, were the only representatives from the party to attend a photocall in Merrion Square in Dublin to publicise the 'No' campaign.

Tóibín was again suspended from the Sinn Féin parliamentary party for six months in October 2018, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018.

On 15 November 2018, Tóibín announced his resignation from Sinn Féin, saying that restrictions imposed on him by the party over his views on abortion had "prevented me from fully representing my constituents".

Aontú (2019–present)

After resigning from Sinn Féin in November 2018, Tóibín announced that he would attempt to establish an alternative political party. On 28 January 2019, he announced that the name of his new political party would be Aontú, Irish for "unity" or "agreement".

At the 2020 general election, Tóibín retained his seat in Meath West with 7,322 first-preference votes, or 17.6%, taking the second of the constituency's three seats.

In February 2022, Tóibín used parliamentary privilege to name Soldier F, a soldier accused of murdering two people on Bloody Sunday. This was the first time the soldier had been identified in the Dáil. He had previously been identified by name in the British parliament, and in ''Village'' magazine in Ireland.

In February 2024, Tóibín announced that he would contest the 2024 European Parliament election for the Midlands–North-West constituency. During the election campaign, he stated his intention to stand for re-election in the next general election. Tóibín received 40,742 (6.0%) first-preference votes, but was not elected, being eliminated on the eighteenth count.

On 22 December 2024, ''The Journal'' awarded Tóibín 'The Late Debate Debater of the Year' for his 'for his clear and concise communication skills'.

Political views

'' The Phoenix'' has described Tóibín's overall political identity as appealing to "the more socially conservative of nationalist voters", while Gerald Howlin of the ''Irish Examiner'' has likened Tóibín's overall political identity to the Sinn Féin of the 1970s under Ruairí Ó Brádaigh's leadership. Tóibín has self-described Aontú as socially conservative but centre-left economically.

Abortion

Tóibín's most well-known political position is his anti-abortion stance, which ultimately caused his departure from Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin allowed Tóibín to campaign for a No vote during the 2018 Irish referendum on abortion, provided that he would accept the party whip on subsequent votes relating to abortion. However, alongside Carol Nolan, he broke ranks and continued to vote against law reforms regarding to abortion in the Dáil. This led to multiple suspensions and proved to become an untenable situation. Once Tóibín formed Aontú, it was generally agreed that the party was broadly anti-abortion in nature.

Immigration

Tóibín and Aontú have been described as possessing a "strong rightward stance" on immigration, with Tóibín's rhetoric on the topic characterised as " Nativist". In 2019, Tóibín stated that there was "growing unease and concern among many people in Ireland around the issue of immigration". Tóibín has also stated that "genuine" asylum seekers must be properly looked after but that "asylum seekers cannot be treated better than our own people". Additionally, Tóibín has stated that if asylum seekers can be placed in modular homes, so too can homeless Irish people.

Other political parties

In December 2022 Tóibín stated that "Sinn Féin is morphing into Fianna Fáil. It will go any direction it feels necessary to get votes" while also commentating that "Other political parties are distracted by virtue-signalling on the latest woke fashion. Aontú is different." Tóibín stated that Aontú would not enter government with Fine Gael "under any circumstances".

Personal life

Tóibín is a business consultant. He is married to Deirdre Tóibín and they have four children. He was the Chairperson of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign. He has a degree in Economics and Politics from University College Dublin (UCD) and a postgraduate degree in enterprise from the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Tóibín was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2021.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toibin, Peadar
1974 births
Alumni of University College Dublin
Aontú TDs
Fianna Fáil politicians
Independent TDs
Irish anti-abortion activists
Leaders of political parties in Northern Ireland
Living people
Members of Meath County Council
Members of the 31st Dáil
Members of the 32nd Dáil
Members of the 33rd Dáil
People from Drogheda
Sinn Féin TDs (post-1923)
Sinn Féin local councillors in the Republic of Ireland
Members of the 34th Dáil
Leaders of political parties in Ireland