‘We are horrified, shocked and angered’: Aontú condemns secret WhatsApp group which involved ex-Kildare member

The political party Aontú has condemned the existence of a secret WhatsApp group chat which involved one member from County Kildare.

According to a report from The Sunday Independent, which was published on October 26 last, the party fired the leader of its youth wing, Ógra Aontú, and dismissed five other members upon learning of the existence of the chat.

The party claimed that it had discovered that some Ógra Aontú members posted alleged racist and alleged anti-Semitic comments in the chat.

One member who was immediately terminated from his position within Aontú was John Bryan, a 21-year-old who had acted as the party's Clane LEA representative and the head of Ógra Aontú before he was fired.

He also acted as the election agent for Aontú's County Mayo TD, Paul Lawless.

The report also included a statement from Mr Bryan in which he apologised for his comments and said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the remarks he had made.

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When asked by the Leinster Leader for comment on this development, a spokesperson for the party responded with a lengthy statement.

They said: "We became aware of a secret WhatsApp group being run by a small number of Ógra individuals on Friday last, October 17.

"We had no prior knowledge whatsoever of the existence of this social media WhatsApp group before this date (October 17).

"It was not a sanctioned Aontu what’s app group. Indeed, secret WhatsApp groups are against party rules and contravene our Code of Conduct."

The spokesperson continued: "Once we learned of its existence, we took immediate and decisive action.

"Our standards committee, An Coiste Caighdeáin, immediately suspended all members involved; five have been permanently removed from the party; the employment contract of one individual was immediately terminated.

"We are horrified, shocked and angered at this development.

"This repulsive content is an attack on our party polices, ethos and constitution."

'EQUALITY IS A KEY FOUNDATION STONE FOR AONTÚ'

The spokesperson further said that Aontú is a "pluralist Republican party" which believes that "everyone should be able to be who they are without fear or favour".

"We have many valued members who are immigrants; we have members who are followers of all faiths and none.

"Indeed, some of those members stood for us in the recent elections. We came under attack from the extremes. This did not deter us as equality is a key foundation stone for Aontú.

"Aontú has a zero tolerance for any disgusting behaviour that seeks to discriminate against people.

"We are angry that a small group of young people sought to besmirch our movement by such repugnant language."

The spokesperson concluded by saying: "It is of deep concern that some young people are allowing their hearts to be hardened by radical content on social media."

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