Deputy Carol Nolan has said her heated exchange with TDs Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Gary Gannon in the Dáil on Thursday was a response to attempts to attack her Christian faith.
The row unfolded during a debate on a private member’s motion regarding accommodation for asylum, during which a number of TDs voiced concerns about communities being put under pressure.
During the debate, Labour’s Deputy Ó Ríordáin claimed that there were “racists in the Dáil,” while also referring to “a permanent government that is institutionally racist.”
During her contribution, Deputy Nolan said that some TDs could rightfully stand up and say “I told you so” regarding immigration.
“I told the Government and the Minister’s colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, in the Dáil 22 months ago that we were heading towards a totally unsustainable and chaotic social catastrophe, and here we are,” the Laois Offaly TD said.
“I said it would bring about more human misery than we could possibly deal with as a small country. Did the Government listen? No, it did not. Were those of us who asked for reasonable measures such as impact assessments ridiculed and condemned as bigots and racists? Yes, we were.”
“Just look at where we are today. We have an immigration system and an immigrant homeless situation that are nothing short of spiralling social sabotage. This Government has no answers for one simple reason, it is because it does not ask the right questions and it does not listen.
“There is a huge disconnect. Our tourism industry is destroyed beyond repair, even though millions of euros were pumped into it. Towns like Drogheda and Roscrea now have no hotels. This is thanks to the Minister’s reckless policy.”
“We have unvetted immigration. The Social Democrats need to cop themselves on. They are the facts. The Deputies might not like them but they are the facts,” Deputy Nolan said.
Responding to this, Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon hit back, saying: “They are not the facts,” while his party colleague Jennifer Whitmore TD also claimed Deputy Nolan’s comments amounted to “a com
“The hard left is jumping up and down being reckless, naive and gullible,” Deputy Nolan responded, to which Deputy Gannon said: “Look at the Christian corner, calling themselves good Christians.”
Hitting back, Deputy Nolan said she would “take no lectures from Deputy Ó Ríordáin, who said in 2014 that there were limits on the numbers of people we could take in.”
In response, Ó Ríordáin seemed taken aback, responding: :My what? My communist….”
“I will take no lectures from the Deputy or his communist party. I am now going to conclude. It is tough if the Deputies do not like it. They will hear it from their constituents anyway. I will take no lectures from a communist,” the Rural Independent said.
“It is tough if the Deputies do not like it. They will hear it from their constituents anyway. I will take no lectures from a communist,” she added.
Deputy Nolan told Gript that she made the comments in response to the way in which “certain TDs” in the Dáil treat the minority who do not shy away from being openly Christian or Catholic, saying that what was taking place was an attempt to undermine Christian TDs.
“I was the first speaker up there, and I could hear the comments and the muttering – some TDs were definitely mocking our Catholic faith. And not for the first time, either. We get this a lot in the Dáil, especially the few of us who are not shy about expressing our opinions, and who are not embarrassed about our faith,” Deputy Nolan said.
“I had heard at one point the comments about us being ‘The Christian corner’ which was followed by a lot of sniggering. That prompted my comment back about not taking lectures from Aodhán Ó Riordáin and his communist party – or the others around him, who I would associate as being in the same category anyway,” she added.
“Unfortunately, I had this trouble before the abortion referendum, and when I called for a ‘No’ vote. That prompted claims that I was in favour of bringing Ireland back to the dark ages – so it’s not the first time I have borne the brunt of that type of sentiment. I would get a lot of it, and I got a lot of it because it was evident I was pro-life and because of my beliefs.
“It is ongoing unfortunately, and it is being facilitated by local and national media.
“The support from constituents keeps us going, and strengthens our convictions, but it can be a difficult environment because all you’re trying to do is get your point across. And we constantly see the left trying to shout us down. That happened during the abortion debate as well, but I think it backfired again yesterday.”
Deputy Nolan said that the behaviour from some TDs borders on bullying, with dissenting voices having to put up with constant “sneering and mocking.”
“Some TDs are quite notorious for this kind of behaviour. And we saw that yesterday.”
“You can feel quite isolated in the chamber in many respects, but that may change at the next election,” she said, adding that the polls showed a significant majority supported the stance of rural TDs on immigration.
Leader of the Rural Independents, Deputy Mattie McGrath, also alluded to Christianity as he hit back during Thursday’s exchange. Speaking after Deputy Nolan gave her remarks, he said
“In advance of Holy Week, we will take no lectures from the hard left and the looney left who will not face the people.”
Deputy McGrath described the immigration situation as “a shambles.”
“I lay the blame at the Minister’s door. His colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O’Brien, has engaged with me on many occasions,” he said.
“It is ten weeks today since the hotel in Roscrea was taken over and the Garda was sent to terrorise the people of Roscrea. These are good decent people, ordinary mothers and fathers. They had no objection to children, they just wanted their hotel.
“The whole thing was manipulated, supported and cheer-led by the looney left, as I call them. They got their answer in the referendum. The people are sick, sore and tired of them.
“Our own young people have to go abroad. There are 13,500 people on our own housing lists. What happened in Mount Street is a disgrace. The Minister decided to go to Japan. Timbuktu would not be far enough at this stage if he went there and decided to stay. Then the unfortunate people were brought out to the Dublin Mountains and given tents,” Deputy McGrath said.
Note from Editor: After this piece was published, Deputy Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats stated publicly that he felt some of the accusations in this piece from Deputy Carol Nolan are unfair to him. As a result, I offered to publish a full response from him by way of right of reply, and he graciously accepted. His comments can be read here.