Ireland’s newest political party, Independent Ireland, have postponed a meeting scheduled to take place tonight in Portlaoise.
This comes amid mounting unrest in the party following the decision of MEP Ciaran Mullooly to join the Renew grouping in the European Parliament.
The former Midlands Correspondent for RTE took the fifth and final seat in Midlands–North-West constituency during last month’s European Elections, just two months after joining Independent Ireland.
His decision to join Renew caused immediate problems within Independent Ireland as Renew is the group of choice for Fianna Fáil, whose four MEPs are all Renew members.
A number of party members have resigned, including some involved in organising the planned public meeting in Portlaoise.
This includes Portarlington-based Elaine Mullally, who had been Chairperson of the party, and was listed as the point of contact when the party announced the Portlaoise meeting.
“I have made the difficult decision to step away from Independent Ireland, as it no longer aligns with my values and principles,” Ms Mullally said.
“This was not an easy choice, but it is necessary for me to stay true to what I believe in.
“I was proud to be part of Independent Ireland, where we attracted passionate and committed candidates in the recent Local Elections.
“These individuals are genuine and dedicated to bringing transparency and change to their local areas, and I commend their efforts.
“I remain committed to advocating for the change our communities deserve and will continue to seek ways to make a positive impact.”
The statement was made last week in a post on X/Twitter. Ms Mullally has been contacted for further comment.
In response to the resignation, Party Leader, Michael Collins TD said: “On a personal level, I am very sad to see the departure of Mrs Mullally from the party but I respect her decision and admire her resolve.”
The party’s General Secretary, Richard O’Donoghue TD had been scheduled to speak at the Portlaoise meeting, which has now been postponed with no new date set.
In a statement to LaoisToday, a party spokesperson said: “We have had some changes internally with Cllr Ken O’Flynn (from Cork City Council) moving into the position of interim chairperson.
“There is a lot of work to be done to finalise policies and ensure a smooth transition so that will be the focus for the next number of weeks.
“As a result of this we made the decision to postpone this meeting until after we have finalised our General Election manifesto and full policy documents at our summer “think in” where this will all be finalised and announced shortly thereafter.
“The plan will be to schedule public meetings in a number of constituencies once we have finalised our General Election manifesto.”
Independent Ireland have three TDs, Michael Collins TD from Cork South-West, Richard O’Donoghue from Limerick County, and Michael Fitzmaurice from Roscommon–Galway.
The party contested its first Local Elections this year. Prior to those elections, the party had 13 councillors that had switched to Independent Ireland.
Of those 13, 11 were re-elected and a further 12 were elected under the party name, for a total of 23 elected councillors. They ran two candidates in Laois though neither were elected.
The party is understood to be on the lookout for a General Election candidate in Laois though it’s understood none of the current Independent councillors in Laois (Aisling Moran, Ben Brennan, James Kelly, Tommy Mulligan) will be linking up with them.
In a lengthy statement released by the party, they addressed the spate of resignations and their course of action concerning MEP Mullooly’s decision to align with Renew:
“Independent Ireland and its three TDs have been subjected to a torrent of abuse on social media from commentators who felt the party had ‘betrayed its base’ by aligning with the Renew Group as opposed to the ECR. An accusation robustly rejected by the Party,” they said.
“In Europe, making friends and influencing people is the name of the game. Being ‘unattached’ isn’t an option for an MEP who wants to get things done and deliver real change.
“We roundly reject that aligning with the European Democratic Party is a betrayal of our base and our domestic policy decisions will clearly illustrate that in the fullness of time.”
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