Aontú leader Peadar Toibín has told his party’s think-in that it is targeting up to a dozen seats in the next Dáil election.
Speaking at the event in Derry this morning, Mr Toibín referenced recent polling which put his party at 8% of the vote.
He said that could translate into a decent number of seats at the next election.
He told delegates that a dozen seats was not impossible “on a good day”, and that Aontú had very strong chances in constituencies like Cavan/Monaghan, Meath East, Dublin West, Wexford and Limerick City.
He said he believed the party’s strong showing at the polls was happening because it was “listening to the people” and that others had lost touch with their base.
He ruled out going into government with Fine Gael after the next election and while he said they would “find it very difficult to put Micheál Martin back into power”, the likelihood was that he might have been replaced by his party by then.
“We will wait to see the colour of their policies to decide in the next couple of months,” Mr Toibín said.
On referendum for Irish unity, Mr Toibín said the power to decide on the timing of when it should be called should be passed to Stormont MLAs, from the the UK Secretary of State.
He said that would “actually put the idea of self-determination, which is writ large in the Good Friday Agreement, into the system”.
He said he believed that for the first time unity was within touching distance.
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Deputy leader Gemma Brolly told delegates that there was a collapse of public services in Northern Ireland and a lack of political accountability for it.
She said narrow sectarian differences were being amplified to mask that.
Delegates were told that a former SDLP councillor from the Causeway Coast and Glens Council, Margaret Anne McKillop, had joined the party. She was introduced at the event.
Mr Toibín said his party had led the campaign against the carbon tax and on citizenship rights.
“It’s absolutely incredible that we have hundreds of thousands of middle income families where both parents are working every hour that God gives, unable to pay for the basic necessities of life.
“We’re talking about not being able to pay for petrol, diesel and home heating oil. These are staples, they’re not luxury goods and the government is tax gouging on these.”
He said he was calling on the government not to punitively increase in the taxes in the next budget, saying that would be “absolutely wrong” at a time when so many people were struggling.