Sinn Féin Cllr Aoife Masterson has called on so-called independent TD Carol Nolan to explain to the people of Offaly why one of her first acts after being re-elected to the Dáil was to vote in favour of Micheál Martin’s new cabinet.

Cllr Masterson, a first-time candidate for the constituency in November’s General Election, said Deputy Nolan was elected on a clear platform of opposing the status quo yet has opted to vote for more of the same from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Cllr Masterson said:

“Carol Nolan was re-elected on a platform of opposing the status quo of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but one of her very first acts back in the Dáil chamber was to vote in favour of Micheál Martin’s new cabinet.

“Deputy Nolan can’t have it both ways. Is she an independent opposition TD or not?

“What promises, if any, were made to Deputy Nolan to vote in favour of this cabinet of chancers?

“Her decision to do so comes on the back of her willingly propping up the grubby deal between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Michael Lowry independents that sought to have government-supporting TDs sitting in opposition with Deputy Nolan’s technical group, taking away speaking rights from genuine opposition TDs.

“The people of Offaly deserve honesty from those they elect to represent them.

“They also expect those elected on an independent platform to hold the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government to account.

“It appears to me that Carol Nolan has turned her back on any pretence of being an independent opposition TD, and the people of Offaly deserve to know why.

“Voting against Micheál Martin for Taoiseach, but then hours later voting in favour of his Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael cabinet, is cynical and tokenistic, and designed to mislead constituents in Offaly.”