Cathal BarryThe acting president of the Christian Solidarity Party has said he is hopeful for a “renewal” of the party ahead of the next general election.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic ahead of the party’s Ard Fheis this weekend, Cathal Ashbourne Loftus said “we hope to get renewal because we are tired and we haven’t achieved a lot”.
“Our numbers are down and it’s hard to keep going so we hope if we can muster a bit more support we might be able to keep going with renewed vigour,” he said.
Acknowledging the party has a “huge mountain to climb”, Mr Ashbourne Loftus said if the Christian Solidarity Party was to contest the next general election “we would hope to be a bit stronger than we are and to be better funded”.
“We do not expect a groundswell of support but we do like to be able to put forward some candidates. Somebody has to stand up for what it is we believe in but we wouldn’t be so delusional as to imagine we would be swept into power.
“The greatest advertisement any political party can have is the possibility of imminent power. We don’t have a great possibility of imminent power and accordingly we don’t have a lot of interest from the public in general,” he said.
Nevertheless, Mr Ashbourne Loftus, who contested the 2007 general election in the Dublin North constituency, said he believes “it is worth making the effort”.
“There is such a thing as a long game. Things can change,” he said.