Sad news this morning, former TD Peter Mathews has passed away aged 65 after a cancer battle – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Sad news this morning, former TD Peter Mathews has passed away aged 65 after a cancer battle




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The former Dublin South TD Peter Mathews has sadly passed away aged 65 after a battle with cancer.

He was elected to the Dail in 2011 after various stellar television performances and a strong accounting background showed he knew what he was talking about.

Elected as a Fine Gael politician, Mathews was dramatically expelled from the party when he stood up for what he believed in and voted against the party in the 2013 abortion bill.

He famously said at the time:
“I will do what I have to do and that is vote against the bill.”

“It is a very badly formulated bill, on bad foundations and it should be withdrawn.”

“I will not support the bill as it stands. I will vote against.”

“Anything I do in life has its consequences and I will deal with the consequences when and if they arise.”

“Now they are going back and saying that they are going to legislate for termination of pregnancy where the woman is suicidal.”

“I would be very cynical of the politicians’ approach to this at this stage.”

Mr Mathews then helped create the Reform Alliance which moved into Renua.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and sadly passed away last night.

He’s survived by his wife Susan and their four children.

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