Ireland’s Green Party has criticised the “dominant narratives” driven by “white men” in positions of power, blaming this for wars and environmental destruction.
In a press release entitled “Check Toxic Attitudes”, Mná Glasa, the Green Party’s Women’s Group said they “stand with people everywhere who have experienced sexual abuse and rape at the hands of men and wherever toxic masculinity runs unchecked.”
“Toxic masculine attitudes dominate the headlines, where powerful men talk of war, arms, and oil money, deafening the world with outdated, patriarchal tones, silencing, dismantling, and undoing the vital systems of care provided primarily by women,” the statement read.
“Addressing environmental destruction, biodiversity loss and inequality requires new ways of being, and we reject the current dominant narrative, driven by white men with money and power.”
The party added that they want “a new future” where “feminist values underpin the planet’s recovery”.
At the bottom of this release, phone numbers were included for Green Party Deputy Leader Roisín Garvey and the party’s women’s group chair Bláithín Gallagher, telling members of the press to contact either of them “for further details” or for “an interview”.
On foot of this, Gript’s Ben Scallan reached out to Garvey to ask her what she would say to someone who argued that it was offensive to bring the race and gender of “white men” into such comments.
Garvey denied having any knowledge of the quote upon hearing it, and said it sounded “very generalising”.
“I don’t know, I didn’t write that press release, I gave them a quote,” she said.
“That seems like it’s very generalising, doesn’t it?”
Asked if she would stand over the comments having heard them, she said: “I’m going to have to read the press release and get back to you. I’m not going to comment on anything with Gript until I know what you’re talking about exactly.”
Gript later reached out to Garvey to ask if she had time to read through the release in question, though she was not reachable at that time.
Meanwhile, the Green Party women’s group chair Bláithín Gallagher said she made “no apologies” for the remarks and that she fully stood by the comments.
“You’ve caught me off guard right now,” she said, adding: “…I don’t have any comment, [but] I think the press release stands for itself. I don’t think anything is untrue or offensive in it. And that’s all I have to say right now.
“I have to go now…I make no apologies. I think the world is testament to what can happen when you’ve got some very powerful people with money, particularly the men who are behaving in an absolutely outrageous way at the moment. And I don’t think anyone can deny what’s happening there.”
Notably, the Green Party were some of the most vociferous voices in favour of stronger hate speech laws in Ireland while in Government, specifically arguing that making comments that are deemed to be “hateful” about a group or individual’s immutable traits like race or gender should be a criminal offence.
“White privilege” has also been a frequent talking about among Green Party politicians.
Green Party Councillor and then-Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork Colette Finn previously argued that white Irish people have an “unearned privilege simply being white.”
In addition to this, then-Green Party Minister Joe O’Brien previously defended his government funding NGOs that discuss “white privilege”, claiming that this is a “relevant concept” in Ireland.