Happy Family... Fionn, Eoghan, Deirdre, Peadar Tóibín with Siun and Senan Tóibín in front. Photo: Gerry Shanahan.

Gavan Reilly: Tóibín’s biggest victory is bringing in an Aon-two

I can only imagine the sheer relief in the Toibín household when the news came through that Paul Lawless was going to get over the line in Mayo to become the second TD for Aontú. This was a make-or-break run for Tóibín’s party. They might have hoped that Cllr Emer would have taken the new seat in Meath East, and other target seats included Cavan-Monaghan and Dublin West. I hadn’t heard much expectation that Mayo – with its four-and-a-half Fine Gael candidates – as being fertile ground, yet here they are.

The reasons it’s so important for a second body to join Tóibín in the Dáíl are manyfold. One superficial one is bargaining for speaking rights in the Dáil: ‘technical groups’ need at least five members, and Aontú can be a bigger force in holding sway if it comes as a duo. That means more regular rostered time to control the Dáil agenda, for one.

Pictured: Peadar Tobin checkiing in on the count. Photo by Gerry Shanahan

But the bigger issue is clout, recognition and kudos. Until now – and Peadar might not like this as a metric, but it’s true – in Leinster House terms, Aontú was basically a one-man band. Tóibín often lamented how little coverage his party got, but to all intents his party was an independent TD wearing a different rosette. That’ll be different now: Aontú is no longer a personal vehicle, it’s a collective.

I also vividly remember Peadar’s anguish when the party’s share of the popular vote was firmed up in 2020. Getting 1.9% of the national first preferences meant the party didn’t get access to centralised state funding to pay for publicity, administrative support, opinion polling, youth cultivation… all of this now gets centralised public help. You can’t use the money to pay for future elections, but now there’s cash to cover the costs the party would have had to manage itself. It’s huge.