Election success could put momentum behind Dáil bid for 100% Redress party

They could be coming to Dublin again – but this time in search of a seat in Dáil Éireann.

With four seats secured in Donegal County Council following the weekend's elections, the newly-formed 100% Redress party may now turn attention to the next General Election.

Four of the six 100% Redress candidates who stood for election have been returned as councillors.

The candidates amassed a total of 7,400 first preference votes across six of the seven municipal districts in Donegal with Ali Farren topping the poll in Carndonagh, whee he claimed 28.3 per cent of the votes cast.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin in 2021 in protest at the lack of an acceptable redress scheme – and now their cause could well take momentum behind a push for a seat in the Dáil with a general election expected within the next nine months.

“We are tired of being treated like second class citizens and we are tired of a scheme that isn't fit for purpose,” Farren told Donegal Live.

“This is a big, big problem and now we have a chance. Now, we are at the table and will have a mandate to speak for people.

“We are there for 100% redress. We will be keeping the issue to the front and centre in Lifford.

“Lifford will know that we are there – and Dublin will know that we are there. To get so many first preferences is powerful.”

Farren will be joined in the new Donegal County Council by Joy Beard (Buncrana), Tomas Sean Devine (Letterkenny) and Denis McGee (Glenties).

“With our votes, now it’s time to start thinking about the General Election,” Devine said. “We felt let down for far too long,” he said.

“For a party that formed in the last year, we put in an awful lot of hard work. It is phenomenal. It has been hard work and I can't thank people enough”
Last September, the 100% Redress party, which was formed in response to the defective concrete blocks crisis that is blighting thousands of homes across Donegal, was given the green light to stand candidates.

Now, they have a collective voice in the Council chamber.

“This is a massive message,” McGee said after his election on the 10th count in Glenties.

“It was imperative to get multiple candidates. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis ever to hit Donegal.

“The people have spoken now. We are in a position now where we can find out exactly where the pitfalls are at and see what we can do to push this issue. Dublin has to sit up and cop themselves on and listen to us.”

Beard was elected on the first count in Buncrana having grabbed 1,587 votes to exceed the 1,510 quota.

A long-time campaigner for affected homeowners, Beard concurred with McGee's assessment of the issue as a 'humanitarian crisis'.

“These homes are becoming increasingly unsafe and they are very unhealthy so we need to get these families out of there to safety,” Beard, who believes that the Council should be providing modular housing for affected people, said.

“The Council have known about this for a decade and there has been no provision put in place. People have been crying out for help and there has been no help forthcoming.

“There should have been a hub set up for these families to go and get information. People don't know where to start and we only have two facilitators. This is a massive crisis and it is a humanitarian crisis as far as I'm concerned.

“It is vital for us to have a voice because we felt that we weren't being represented well enough in there. That is why we formed this party. We need a bigger voice. It is such a big crisis.”

Farren lives in Malin Head and says 100 houses in his surrounds will have to be demolished due to the presence of defective concrete.

Those include his own parents, who are both aged 82.

“They built a retirement home in 2007 and this is affecting them,” Farren said. “The same issue is being felt all over the place.

“My father spent long days saying 'don't do it', but I felt that we needed a voice. We are delighted today. This is a powerful day.

“The scheme has to change because it isn't fit for purpose. The spin from the government is about how many houses are being done – but how many aren't being done? This is what we are about.

“Voting the same way for 100 years didn't work, but this is an issue that affects Joe Soap, ordinary people.”

In Letterkenny, Devine earned 10% of a vote that is being recounted after a request from Aontu candidate Mary T Sweeney. Sweeney, though, has done enough to have his seat secured in Lifford.

“We have felt let down for far, far too long,” he said.

“We have to start thinking about the General Election.”