Aontú leader Peadar Toibin has said the Family and Care referendums were a failed “marketing ploy” by the Government. 

Aontú was the only political party in Ireland to call for a No-No vote in Friday’s joint referendums, which saw an overwhelming defeat. 

The resounding failure of the referendums has raised the question of who is at fault. 

Speaking on The Anton Savage Show today, Mr Toibin said the Government was too complacent during the campaign. 

“I think these referendums were actually a marketing ploy by the Government to create a backdrop for the upcoming year of elections,” he said. 

“They wanted to tap into some of the positivity that they received from the marriage referendum and the Repeal referendum.” 

As the only party advocating for a No-No vote, Mr Toibin said he thought he would be fighting against “the prevailing political winds” until recent weeks. 

“We saw that there was a growing section of people who were undecided, and I had an inkling there could be people who just don't want to give the wrong answer to the pollster,” he said. 

“There was an opportunity to reach out to those people, explain the actual what these atrocious amendments actually meant in their real lives and try to win their votes.” 

Failing referendum

The Aontú leader said it was important to keep the reference to mothers in the Constitution. 

“Sometimes I think, in this country, we have neoliberalism dressed up in progressive clothes,” he said. 

“What I mean is that sometimes people are just reduced to economic units but when you boil it down... it's the relationships that we have with each other are the most important things.” 

Mr Toibin said the result of the referendum shows a challenge to the “political bubble”. 

“If they were to listen to the Irish people, they would realise at this stage that the tolerance for this type of virtue signalling has reduced significantly in this country,” he said. 

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