New party to contest by-election
Direct Democracy Ireland (DDI), a newly-formed party based in Trim, is to contest the by-election in Meath East, with Ben Gilroy, the party leader, running. He presided at the official launch of DDI as a new national political party in November 2012, changing its status from a political organisation that supported independent candidates at the last election. Ben is a long time resident of Navan with a young family, and for many years ran his own business in the town. He claims the policies of the establishment political parties caused a huge loss of trade and ultimately the closure of his business. Since then, he says he has been very busy helping families and businesses the length and breadth of the country to defend their homes against banks and receivers. He was instrumental in setting up the group 'People for Economic Justice' and is renowned for his constitutional stands against county sheriffs, the videos of which have become viral on the internet. Many families and businesses remain in their property today because of Ben and this group fighting for the rights of the people against vested financial interests, he claims.