Stardust campaigner Antoinette Keegan withdraws from general election and distances herself from National Party

Stardust Survivors campaigner Antoinette Keegan has withdrawn from the anti-survivor campaign general elections and distanced itself from the extreme right National Party.

She announced her intention to participate in the race in this week Dublin Fingal East as a candidate for the National Party. The National Party has a hard-line anti-immigration platform.

However, on Thursday she said in a statement that she was withdrawing from the election, saying her principles are “incompatible” with the party. She said she had announced her intention to run for office “with an exclusive focus on being a voice for those who need it most.”

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Ms Keegan’s sisters Mary and Martina died in the horrific Stardust fire in 1981, which killed 48 people.

On Thursday, Ms Keegan said she had sought justice for her sisters for decades and that her and her late mother’s campaign had always been based on “human rights and equality”.

She said she was approached in recent days by the National Party offering her support to contest the election and she accepted the proposal.

Ms Keegan said: “On reflection this was an error of judgement.”

She said that, after advice from her friend and Stardust family attorney Darragh Mackin, “in retrospect, I have realized that the principles I have been proud of for so long are incompatible with the political party to which I was nominated.”

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Ms Keegan also said: “I am proud to be a daughter, sister, mother and grandmother who fearlessly speaks truth to power in the pursuit of equality for society’s most vulnerable.

“I cannot associate my name with a party whose views do not match mine.”

She added: “This mistake has taught me a valuable lesson that my time is best spent supporting those who have supported me and the other Stardust families over the years, rather than running myself. ”

Ms Keegan added: “I apologize for my mistake and call on my entire community, who have so graciously supported me regardless of politics, to accept my withdrawal from running in the general election.”