FORMER LABOUR COUNCILLOR Damian Molyneaux has joined Sinn Féin, it was announced today, following his resignation from his former party in September last year.

At the time, Molyneaux, who is a councillor for Newbridge, County Kildare, said he had become “disillusioned with the whole lot” though he commented today that his decision to leave Labour was “not taken lightly”.

“My reason for being in politics is to defend working people and to stand up for those who are in most need in society,” he explained.

Unfortunately the Labour Party has abandoned all of that. It has turned its back on the very people it was established to help and has joined a consensus for cuts with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

The Newbridge councillor said he decided to join Sinn Féin because it is “the only party standing up for ordinary people both on the ground and in the Dáil”.

Sinn Féin Party Whip Aengus Ó’Snodaigh welcomed the move and said it was “a sign of the growing support for our party and the policies we espouse”.

Molyneaux joins his former party colleague, Kildare councillor Thomas Redmond, who also defected to Sinn Féin in September last year. Almost 30 councillors have now left the Labour Party over its role in government.

Read: The 29 councillors who have left the Labour Party over its role in government>

Read: ‘It’s not popular to be in Labour’: Party not surprised by Dermot Looney’s departure>