Lawless selected to run for Aontú in general election in Mayo

AONTÚ’S Councillor Paul Lawless has been officially selected to represent the party in the upcoming general election in Mayo.

As a sitting councillor, Lawless vows to address decades of neglect and underfunding in the region, with a bold vision for infrastructure, housing and health reforms.

His campaign prioritises the urgent need for better representation and meaningful investments that will empower Mayo and its communities.

“I’m running to ensure Mayo gets its fair share of investment and attention,” Councillor Lawless said. “From connecting Knock airport to a rail system to fixing our housing crisis, my goal is to bring real change that the people of Mayo can tangibly see and experience.

“Mayo has a golden opportunity to be a magnet for investment and growth if it is finally granted the funding and representation it has lost out on for decades.”

Speaking about his ambitious pre-election programme, Councillor Lawless said: “The people of Mayo deserve representation who will put this county first. Dáíl representation for Mayo has been dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians since the foundation of the state and successive TDs have been content with breadcrumbs for this region.

“Mayo is on par with the least well-off areas of Europe in terms of infrastructure. Health, education, roads, housing, rail and energy are all languishing behind our counterparts in Ireland and across the continent. The entire region has received less that 10% of the total infrastructure projects and less than 6% of large infrastructure projects since 2016.

“The county has lost out so much on capital infrastructure, such as active travel, sports facilities, the Western Rail Corridor, and the Knock to Collooney N17 road project. Progress on a strategic development zone for Knock airport has stalled, leaving us high and dry, while politicians from outside our region prioritise their own areas.

“Mayo needs politicians who have ambition for the county. No major Irish airport currently has a rail connection - let’s make Knock airport the first.”

He continued: “I believe that the establishment of a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) for Knock airport is vital for the overall growth of our region.

“Knock airport should be an opportunity for growth, an exit point for our products, not our skilled workforce. Knock airport must become a strategic industrial development zone. Its designation as a regional airport where it is discriminated against in terms of public investment must end and I will fight for this.

“I am determined that the road from Tuam to Claremorris and Sligo must be upgraded to a motorway to address the substandard conditions and high collision rates. The government’s current plan for the N17 is inadequate. We deserve safe, efficient infrastructure for both economic growth and public safety.

He added: “The mismanagement of our country’s economic prosperity is truly disgraceful.

“Owning a house, in a country that is awash with money, is now a dream for people and this is an absolute scandal. We have 14,000 homeless people in this country, many of whom lost their homes to the very banks their taxes paid to bail out. It is one of the biggest injustices of our times.

“This government has reduced land availability in Mayo through de-zoning serviced land in towns across the county. Central government and the Office of the Planning Regulator have reduced land supply in Mayo.

“We must allow Mayo County Council to zone more land and I will be demanding more real and radical changes to make the current dream of people in Mayo to own their own home, a reality.”

On the health service, he said it is over-managed and under-resourced and Aontú will cut through the red tape and invest in a robust, responsive health system.

With declining numbers of gardaí in Mayo struggling to address rural crime, he said he would fight to increase the number of garda stations in the county, while crimes like burglary and anti-social behaviour must be reflected in tougher sentencing.

“The people of Mayo deserve an opposition who demand accountability, not one who rows in behind a government as we saw in the Family and Care Referenda and the contentious Hate Speech Bill. That is not opposition.

“We need to elect politicians who are unafraid to stand up and stand out and who genuinely value accountability.

“This government is failing the people on so many levels, in so many different ways and it is time to evict them.”