Audrey delighted with result on first outing
While elimination can be a cause for heartbreak for many candidates Audrey Fergus of Solidarity People Before Profit whooped with joy as her final vote was called out just ahead of her elimination. ‘It’s just amazing,’ she declared.
‘I’m delighted,’ said the first time candidate who got 3,028 votes, including 1,120 first preferences.
It was a very creditable performance for the Dundalk woman who ran her campaign on a shoestring, erecting no posters. She was delighted to have got enough votes to claim back expenses, which in her case was a modest €1,000.
‘It went pretty much as expected,’ she said, noting that the results in the county and countrywide showed a major shift to the left.
‘ The key message is people were turning their backs on the established parties and we want to bring them along with us.’
‘I think we are doing well considering we had no posters and the national media still give other parties with less TDs more airtime,’ she continued.
As one of only three women candidates in the county, she says that the country has a long way to go before there’s a level playing field to make it easier for women to participate in national politics.
‘It comes down to issues like childcare. It’s still the women who have the childcare duties. Those divisions beteen men and women have to be made more she said.
People Before Profit did field more women candidates than some other parties and are always looking to improve on that, she added.
Buoyed by the positive feedback which she received on the canvas, she says she would definitely consider standing again, ‘whether it’s with a year for another General election for the locals in four years time.’
‘We will have more candidates with us next time and we will be going into Drogheda.’
In the meantime, the former singer with 1980s punk band Painted Veil has joined a new band, so look out for her on a stage near you equal,’