FORMER SINN FÉIN TD Brian Stanley is to contest the forthcoming general election as an Independent candidate.
In a statement to the Laois People, Stanley said that having been “out around the county over the past three weeks, I have been encouraged by countless people, from various backgrounds to put my name forward as an Independent and who have pledged their support.
“I have also received commitments of assistance with campaigning from people in all areas, including those who have resigned from Sinn Féin.”
Earlier this month, Stanley, a TD for Laois-Offaly and the chair of the Public Accounts Committee, announced he was resigning from the party with immediate effect due to what he called a “seriously flawed” internal procedure.
A complaint was made against Stanley during the summer that initiated the party’s inquiry. A counter-allegation was subsequently made.
On foot of Stanley’s resignation on 12 October, the internal process was suspended and the issue was then passed on to gardaí.
Stanley has questioned the party’s inquiry process, claiming it “lacked objectivity” and was “seriously flawed”. He has also accused members of Sinn Féin of orchestrating a “character assassination” against him. A number of reports over the weekend published contents from the party’s draft report into the complaint and counter-allegation made by Stanley.
In his statement released today, confirming that he intends to run for election as an Independent, Stanley said he will be standing on a platform of progressive republican policies and if elected will work to improve public services, protect workers and families and address the housing crisis.
Listing his priorities for Laois, Stanley said they include new schemes of affordable homes to purchase and rent, along with social housing as well as effective rent controls to stop runaway rents in the private rental market.
He also mentioned health investment locally, ensuring a ‘just transition’, with proper financial supports for farmers and householders, investment in new schools, and pushing for the expansion of the childcare sector.
“I want to sincerely thank the people in Laois and Offaly who have supported me in successive elections and for the many kind messages sent to me and my family over the past few weeks.
In the recent past, there has been a sustained attempt by a micro group, with their own agenda, to carry out a campaign of character assignation against me and damage my reputation. I am prepared to stand on my record of work of over four decades of political activism and let the good people of Laois judge for themselves whether I should represent them in the thirty fourth Dáil,” his statement concludes.
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