Peadar TóibÃÂn (; born 19 June 1974) is an Irish politician who has served as leader of Aontú since January 2019. He has been a TD for the Meath West constituency since 2011. He previously served as Chair of the Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs from 2016 to 2018. He founded Aontú in January 2019.
He was elected as a Sinn Féin candidate in 2011, but resigned from the party on 15 November 2018, primarily due to his opposition to the party's stance on abortion.
TóibÃÂn was born in Drogheda, County Louth, the youngest of seven siblings. He studied economics and politics at University College Dublin and went on to complete a postgraduate qualification in enterprise at the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Before being elected as a TD, he worked as an independent management consultant in the enterprise sector in Ireland and Scotland.
While studying in University College Dublin, TóibÃÂn was a member of Fianna Fáil and an active member of the UCD branch, the Kevin Barry Cumann. He joined Sinn Féin in 1998. Speaking in 2020, TóibÃÂn commented on his departure from Fianna Fáil by saying "I felt that Fianna Fáil had good people within them, but a lot of the people in Fianna Fáil were career ambitious for themselves and the ideology and the objectives were secondary or weren't as important".
At the 2004 local elections, he stood unsuccessfully for Navan Town Council, and for the Navan local electoral area of Meath County Council. He was co-opted onto Navan Town Council in November 2007, and held that seat at the 2009 local elections, when he was again unsuccessful in the county council election.
TóibÃÂn was suspended from the Sinn Féin parliamentary party for six months in July 2013, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.
He called for a 'No' vote in the 2018 Referendum on the Eighth Amendment. He and his party colleague Carol Nolan, who had been suspended from Sinn Féin for voting against policy on the abortion issue, were the only representatives from the party to attend a photocall in Merrion Square in Dublin to publicise the 'No' campaign.
TóibÃÂn was again suspended from the Sinn Féin parliamentary party for six months in October 2018, when he defied the party whip by voting against the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill 2018.
On 15 November 2018, TóibÃÂn announced his resignation from Sinn Féin, saying that restrictions imposed on him by the party over his views on abortion had "prevented me from fully representing my constituents".
After resigning from Sinn Féin in November 2018, TóibÃÂn announced that he would attempt to establish an alternative political party. On 28 January 2019, he announced that the name of his new political party would be Aontú, Irish for "unity" or "agreement".
At the 2020 general election, TóibÃÂn retained his seat in Meath West with 7,322 first-preference votes, or 17.6%, taking the second of the constituency's three seats.
In February 2022, TóibÃÂn used parliamentary privilege to name Soldier F, a soldier accused of murdering two people on Bloody Sunday. This was the first time the soldier had been identified in the Dáil. He had previously been identified by name in the British parliament, and in Village magazine in Ireland.
In February 2024, TóibÃÂn announced that he would contest the 2024 European Parliament election for the MidlandsâÂÂNorth-West constituency. During the election campaign, he stated his intention to stand for re-election in the next general election. TóibÃÂn received 40,742 (6.0%) first-preference votes, but was not elected, being eliminated on the eighteenth count.
On 22 December 2024, The Journal awarded TóibÃÂn 'The Late Debate Debater of the Year' for his 'for his clear and concise communication skills'.
The Phoenix has described TóibÃÂn's overall political identity as appealing to "the more socially conservative of nationalist voters", while Gerald Howlin of the Irish Examiner has likened TóibÃÂn's overall political identity to the Sinn Féin of the 1970s under RuairààBrádaigh's leadership. TóibÃÂn has self-described Aontú as socially conservative but centre-left economically.
TóibÃÂn has cited Abraham Lincoln, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Bobby Sands, Sister Stan Kennedy, and Pope Francis as people he admires. He has also acknowledged that Richard Bruton was an effective minister, despite being a political opponent.
TóibÃÂn's most well-known political position is his anti-abortion stance, which ultimately caused his departure from Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin allowed TóibÃÂn to campaign for a No vote during the 2018 Irish referendum on abortion, provided that he would accept the party whip on subsequent votes relating to abortion. However, alongside Carol Nolan, he broke ranks and continued to vote against law reforms regarding abortion in the Dáil. This led to multiple suspensions and proved to become an untenable situation. Once TóibÃÂn formed Aontú, it was generally agreed that the party was broadly anti-abortion in nature.
TóibÃÂn and Aontú have been described as possessing a "strong rightward stance" on immigration, with TóibÃÂn's rhetoric on the topic characterised as "Nativist". In 2019, TóibÃÂn stated that there was "growing unease and concern among many people in Ireland around the issue of immigration". TóibÃÂn has also stated that "genuine" asylum seekers must be properly looked after but that "asylum seekers cannot be treated better than our own people". Additionally, TóibÃÂn has stated that if asylum seekers can be placed in modular homes, so too can homeless Irish people.
In December 2022 TóibÃÂn stated that "Sinn Féin is morphing into Fianna Fáil. It will go any direction it feels necessary to get votes" while also commentating that "Other political parties are distracted by virtue-signalling on the latest woke fashion. Aontú is different." TóibÃÂn stated that Aontú would not enter government with Fine Gael "under any circumstances".
TóibÃÂn is a business consultant. He is married to Deirdre TóibÃÂn and they have four children. He was the Chairperson of the Save Navan Hospital Campaign. He has a degree in Economics and Politics from University College Dublin (UCD) and a postgraduate degree in enterprise from the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
TóibÃÂn was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2021.
In his personal life, TóibÃÂn enjoys mountain hiking with his family as well as brewing his own cider. He has stated had he not gone into politics, he would have liked to build his own brewery.