Party to chase protest vote

The Christian Solidarity Party will be chasing the protest vote, its president said yesterday.

"Traditional party loyalties diminish in the European and local elections," said Dr Gerard Casey, and the forthcoming elections on June 11th would be an opportunity for the electorate to give the larger parties "a shot across the bows".

Dr Casey was speaking at the introduction of the party's candidates in the local elections and of his candidacy in the European election. He will stand in the Dublin constituency.

Decisions which affect our daily lives are made by the institutions of the EU, he said.

And "this is something that is more likely to increase . . . than decrease in the future," he added.

He said he knew what it was like to be kept in the dark about issues and decisions that affected him, and his first priority as an MEP would be "to let the people of Dublin know about issues that could affect them before they come up for discussion and decision".

He said he believed our political leaders were increasingly distant from the people they supposedly represented.

He was standing on behalf of those who respected human life, "who are concerned not only with human life in its early stages but also [with] the undignified conditions in which many people have to live and, in particular, the vulnerability of old age."

He asked why the Government was in such a rush to join Partnership for Peace and called for a public discussion on the issue.

"In attempting to rush this through, the Taoiseach is once again demonstrating the contempt that he, and apparently many in the Fianna Fail party, have for the public."

The Christian Solidarity Party is putting up at least four local government candidates in Swords and Malahide in Dublin, as well as in Monaghan and Clare. Dr Casey said more may have decided to run by the time applications close today.