ANOTHER INDEPENDENT TD Michael McNamara has announced that he will be contesting the European elections in the Ireland South constituency in June.

The Clare TD will be standing as an independent candidate in the five-seater constituency for the elections which are set to take place on 7 June.

He confirmed his candidacy and announced his campaign on X today. His campaign, simply titled ‘Make Europe work for Ireland’ is focused on agriculture and renewable energy.

On agricultural issues, McNamara says better protections should be in place for Irish family farms against multinational interests, adding that he believes that international interest and investors represents greed from retailers.

Additionally, the TD also wishes to take steps towards introducing price transparency for the food chain across the EU and grant funding to farmers on marginal land who have been asked to reduce their activity in recent years.

McNamara says that he is a “strong advocate” for offshore wind and believes its potential is being “held back by government inertia”. 

In 2023, without wind energy, Ireland would have spent an additional €918 million on gas for power generation, most of which would have been imported, recent analysis found. McNamara was a big supporter of offshore wind farm at Moneypoint, in Munster.

McNamara also acknowledged that the EU is carrying out reforms on immigration policy, but adds that he believes the “European Union must use its position in the world to address the root causes of mass migration”.

Announcing his campaign today, the candidate said: “Over the past few years, many people have felt unrepresented in the making of decisions that affect their lives.

“I have questioned the Government and tried to make them explain the decisions they make, and I will be asking people for their support to do the same in Europe where more and more of the decisions that affect us in Ireland are made,” he added.

McNamara was first elected as a TD for Clare under the Labour Party in 2011. In 2015, he lost the Labour whip after he voted against Government on three occasions – citing particular concerns over the sale of Aer Lingus shares.

After the General Election in 2016, when McNamara lost his seat, he contested again in 2020 and regained his seat in the Dáil as a representative for Clare. In 2018 he won an appeal against a conviction for dangerous driving, he was pepper sprayed during the arrest.

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