THE people of Ireland were sick of the corruption and sleaze of political parties and there was widespread apathy among the electorate, the leader of the National Party, Mrs Nora Bennis, has said.
At a news conference in Cork yesterday, Mrs Bennis said there were many pressing social ills; unemployment, drugs, alcohol abuse, crime and a growing abortion and divorce culture, for which the existing parties had no solution.
She said people wanted change and security. Her party stood for family, the community and the nation. It reflected the fact that, although the economy was booming, people at the bottom were not receiving any benefits.
Democratic Left, she said, had only 1 per cent of the vote and there was no reason why her party could not equal or surpass this.
In power, she would demand an abortion referendum to redress a wrong that had been done to mothers and babies.