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15th Nov 2018

Suspended TD Peadar Tóibín has resigned from Sinn Féin

Alan Loughnane

Peadar Tóibín

He was suspended for voting against the party line.

Sinn Féin TD Peadar Tóibín has resigned from the party with immediate effect.

The Meath West TD was suspended from the party earlier this month after he voted against the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018, presenting a direct contradiction to the party’s official position.

At the time of his suspension, Sinn Féin said that Tóibín’s decision to vote against the legislation marked “a serious breach of the party’s rules”.

He was due to be suspended for six months.

On Thursday afternoon, Tóibín said the Sinn Féin leadership had agreed a written deal with him which stated he would not be marginalised due to his views on abortion.

He said the deal was “binned unilaterally” 18 months ago.

In a statement he said:

“I have been a member of the party for 21 years. In that time I poured all my efforts into achieving Irish unity and economic justice. This clearly is no longer enough. I will now help to build a new 32 County movement.”