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Aontú withdraws application for High Court injunction over exclusion from RTÉ debate

Aontú has withdrawn an injunction at the High Court relating to its exclusion from a party lead...
Newstalk
Newstalk

12.21 27 Jan 2020


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Aontú withdraws application fo...

Aontú withdraws application for High Court injunction over exclusion from RTÉ debate

Newstalk
Newstalk

12.21 27 Jan 2020


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Aontú has withdrawn an injunction at the High Court relating to its exclusion from a party leaders television debate on RTÉ.

The party said the decision was due to the lack of time to process the required paperwork to proceed with the application.

Earlier, the party's leader, Peadar Tóibín, said it "makes no sense" to exclude one of the eight parties with Dáil representation from the debate.

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The TV debate is due to take place on RTÉ One later tonight, with seven leaders taking part.

In a statement this morning, Mr Tóibín claimed: "We will be notifying the High Court this morning of our intention to make an application for an injunction later in the day in relation to the exclusion of Aontú from the RTE Leaders’ debate.

"Aontú received a higher vote than the Soc Dems and People Before Profit in the recent by-elections. We received a higher vote that People Before Profit in the recent local elections.

"We are just 1 TD behind the Soc Dems in Dáil numbers and yet those two political parties will allowed participate by RTÉ."

Aontú called on the station to enter discussions to achieve a "fair solution".

RTÉ has said that its approach to election coverage is "primarily guided by past electoral performance" - describing election results as being "empirical and objective".

They also stressed that their coverage of party leaders is "not limited" to debates.

The national broadcaster is planning a second debate next week, featuring only Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar.

Reporting by Sean Defoe and Stephen McNeice
Main image: File photo of Peadar Tóibín. Picture by Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

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