MORTGAGE CAMPAIGNER DAVID Hall has said that he is “unequivocally” finished with Fianna Fáil as he launched his bid to win the Dublin West Dáil by-election.
Hall was joined at his campaign launch in central Dublin today by independent TDs Peter Mathews, Catherine Murphy, Shane Ross, Stephen Donnelly, and Roisin Shortall as well as senator Paul Bradford.
The founder of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation also has the support of former Fine Gael minister Lucinda Creighton who he says will canvass with him. He said that “many other TDs have made contact” with him to back his campaign.
Hall claimed that the current crop of independent deputies are “proving clearly that the difference now from previously is independent voices can make and contribute a significant difference to the national picture”.
“People have an allergy to the normal politics now,” he said.
Hall, who also founded the Make a Wish foundation, is a former member of Fianna Fáil and friend of the late Brian Lenihan who left the party in 2008, saying he was “exceptionally uncomfortable” with the promissory note arrangement.
“Fianna Fáil represent the politics of the past,” he said. “I don’t want to be associated with that.”
Independent TD Shane Ross said that Hall is “the man who has led the fight in possibly the most critical problem facing people in Ireland today” and had been doing so pro bono.
Stephen Donnelly said that Hall would do an “incredible job” if elected while his fellow independent Catherine Murphy said: “He is doing what the State should be doing in terms of dealing with the mortgage arrears issue.”
The TDs present also praised Hall’s legal challenge to the constitutionality of the promissory note arrangement last year.
Hall said he would be interested in participating in the forthcoming banking inquiry if elected, but cautioned that his court challenge could disqualify him.
Other candidates running in Dublin West include Ruth Coppinger for the Socialist Party, David McGuinness for Fianna Fáil, Paul Donnelly for Sinn Féin, and Roderic O’Gorman for the Greens. Fine Gael and Labour have yet to select their candidates.
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