Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny today formally welcomed former Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Forde to his party.
Mr Kenny said the decision by Ms Forde to join the party was a symbolic move and a “telling comment on how Fianna Fáil are taking the country in the wrong direction and are making bad decisions that are unnecessarily hurting the wrong people.”
“Deirdre is a very welcome addition to the Fine Gael ranks and I wish her all the best as she joins our local government team on Cork County Council,” he said.
“When faced with the reality of a Government that wasn’t listening to the people and was making bad decisions that hurt the wrong people, Cllr Forde decided to make a change.”
“She recognised the strength and focus of the Fine Gael team at both locally and nationally and decided that being part of that team was the best way for her to represent her electorate. I wish her well as she gets ready for the upcoming elections in June.”
Commenting on her decision Ms Forde said the Government was moving in a direction she was not happy with.
“The Budget in October was the first time that this really struck me when I saw the attempt to take the medical card off OAPs. Subsequent decisions on education supports for special needs children and the provision of cervical cancer screening for teenage girls confirmed for me that the wrong people were being asked to pay the price for a faltering economy," she said.
“Having made numerous attempts to speak to senior party figures about my concerns it became obvious to me that I was not going to be able to affect the type of change that both I, and others, would have liked to have seen."
“Once I arrived at this conclusion I had to make a decision on how best to represent the people that elected me and on how best to continue my commitment to politics and public life. I consulted with my family and my supporters and decided that the Fine Gael team on Cork Country Council, who I know well and respect, was the one I wanted to be involved with and that could best enable me represent the people that voted for me," she added.
Ms Forde was first elected to the Carrigaline electoral area of Cork County Council in 1999. Before her resignation from Fianna Fáil she was chair of their National Councillors' Forum and a member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive.