FG shedding tears for rural Ireland 'is sure sign of general election'

TWENTY-seven-year-old Claremorris man Paul Lawless, who ran for Aontú in the local elections, has said that statements made in the media by Mayo Fine Gael election candidate Alan Dillon are  'indicative of a 2019 general election'.

Mr. Lawless, who declined to comment on whether or not he shall be contesting the next general election, said: “When Fine Gael start fawning pity for rural Ireland and making promises all of a sudden, it normally means there is an election on the cards.

“Their general election candidate for Mayo has made calls for a ‘campaign’ to encourage emigrants to return home to live and work in Mayo. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy.

“The reason why many of our young people are abroad is because it is not possible for them to live and work in Mayo, due to the lack of jobs and investment in our region, on the part of our Fine Gael government. People are leaving Mayo because there’s nothing for them here”.

“Mr. Dillon has also claimed that now is the ‘optimal’ time to bring people home.

“Tragically, I believe that if people were to come home now, they’d arrive just in time for another recession.

“As for Mr. Dillon’s calls for an ‘overall strategy’ to encourage our emigrants to come home, I think he should be directing his concerns towards his party leadership, rather than the press.

“Fine Gael have been in power since 2011, why is it only now that they are expressing concern for rural Ireland?”