Updated 1.29pm
RENUA HAS CAPTURED another Fine Gael representative in the form of Dublin councillor Keith Redmond.
Redmond is said to have grown tired with the “nanny state tendencies” of Fine Gael according to the right-wing think tank he co-founded.
The Hibernia Forum proposed its first pre-budget statement on Tuesday and outlined broad support for a flat income tax, the idea is also supported by Renua.
Redmond was unveiled as Renua’s latest elected representative at Leinster House this morning by party leader Lucinda Creighton.
Redmond said that while he found the decision difficult, he was no longer able to support Fine Gael, which appeared to be “drifting ever further away from the radical reforming agenda that it put to the people in 2011″.
He also said that the flat tax policy proposed by Renua had heavily influenced his decision. Creighton also welcomed Redmond’s arrival, noting it would help develop Renua’s representation on local authorities.
The Howth councillor is a director at the Hibernia Forum and the group has also noted Redmond’s decision to move to Renua.
Hibernia says that Redmond’s move is motivated by both social and economic reasons.
“Redmond, a businessman in north Dublin, is fed up by the ‘nanny state tendencies’ of an increasingly centrist and ‘big State’ Fine Gael party, as well as the governing party’s lack of support for small business culture and prudent public spending,” the group said this morning.
The Howth councillor made headlines earlier this year when he was forced into an apology after a tweet he posted referred to anti-Page 3 campaigners as “feminazis”.
- with reporting from Hugh O’Connell
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