Taoiseach Micheál Martin has defended his claim that the Irish “never were a homogenous group,” warning that those criticising him for saying this “need to be careful with this language”:
Speaking to Gript earlier today, the Fianna Fáil leader was asked about the reaction to his 2021 statement after a clip resurfaced online, prompting a statement from Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn and criticism on social media.
Martin suggested that the controversy was overstated and described the language being used as concerning.
“[Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn] issued a statement, I think was it yesterday,” he said.
“He’s referring to a statement I made in 2021. It’s now 2025. I don’t think there was much consternation about it in the last four years. So let’s keep things in perspective.”
Martin said he did not intend to dismiss concerns but argued that the reaction was playing into unhealthy rhetoric.
“I don’t want to be flippant about it,” he said.
“We need to be careful with this language. And this is appealing to a base and to a sort of a sentiment that is not healthy.”
The Taoiseach insisted he stood by his original comments, defending them by pointing to the historical movements of different groups to and from Ireland.
“The nation state is a very new concept in modern and historic terms, by the way,” he said.
“You go way back through the centuries – I mean, the Irish went to Scotland, or an Irish tribe went to Scotland, to have a look at a few things there and engage with tribes there. There’s been a lot of flow down through the ages.”
Expanding on his remarks, Martin said that while Ireland has distinct traits, it has been shaped by centuries of interaction with other peoples.
“We do tend to make people more Irish than the Irish themselves,” he said.
“And we do have distinct traits. Of course, we have distinct characteristics. We’ve always been influenced by incursions, invasions, people arriving on our shores, trading routes, sea routes have affected the makeup of the modern Irish. I would have thought that was obvious.”
The clip of Martin’s 2021 remarks re-emerged earlier this week, prompting criticism from Independent Ireland and some commentators online.