INDEPENDENT Ireland (II) party leader Michael Collins has made contact with RTÉ over the national broadcaster’s decision to continue to refer to his party as one of the many ‘independents’ and not as a standalone party.
The party has 23 council seats countrywide – the same as the Green Party – and had a strong performance in West Cork. However, the fledgling party continues to be banded together with ‘independents/other’ by most media and broadcast outlets.
‘In fairness we are a new party, so maybe some of it is just about being recognised. We made contact with RTÉ when reports said two of our European candidates – Ciaran Muloolly and Niall Boylan were “independent”.’ Deputy Collins said. He said RTÉ acknowledged the difference but said a report on Wednesday repeated the ‘independent’ tag and the party had now taken to logging the number of incorrect mentions. Meanwhile, Deputy Collins agreed the party needs to get more women on the ballot sheet ahead of a general election, where they are expected to lay down a challenge in many constituencies.
‘It’s something we need to address,’ he said. ‘We do not discriminate on grounds of sexuality, race, or colour. We did have a female candidate in East Cork, but we do need to get more. But even since the elections, I have had contact with women who are interested in standing for the party.’
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