Defence Minister Helen McEntee has played the “misogyny” card following the recent spike in support for Independent Ireland.
The Fine Gael official has teamed up with Government Chief Whip Mary Butler and junior health minister Jennifer Murnane O’Connor in claiming that the party is “misogynistic”, citing the fact that they were willing to interrupt female TDs in the Dáil.
McEntee described such interruptions as women being “barked down”, though cited no specific example.
She added that she had no intention of raising any complaint with the Ceann Comhairle, though did not clarify why not.
Speaking to Gript, Independent Ireland Chairman Ken O’Flynn TD denounced the accusation as lacking merit, though added that it was positive to see that someone in government had figured out a working definition of the “term” woman despite recent transgender debates.
“Nice to know she identifies as a woman! And acknowledged the very existence of women given that their party believes men can be women! That’s far more misogynistic,” he said.
O’Flynn claimed that the TDs issuing the accusations were trying to “distract from their culpability in the government’s embarrassing conduct last week”, adding that it was the job of opposition members to hold ministers to account.
“If they cannot handle heckling in the Dáil — which was done by all parties to a number of different Ministers and Government Deputies — then perhaps they should resign their seats,” he said.
“Pressuring Government is the duty of all opposition TDs to ensure accountability. If they are so offended by Independent Ireland for fulfilling this role they are clearly unfit to sit in Dáil Éireann.”
McEntee’s accusation against Independent Ireland comes amid a spike in support for the party, with recent polling seeing the group rise to six per cent support nationally.
This puts the group ahead of People Before Profit-Solidarity and the Green Party, while putting it level with Aontú.
The party has claimed it has seen a surge in members since the fuel protests last week, with data revealing that Independent Ireland voters were the most likely to support the movement.
McEntee is meanwhile under pressure for her actions during the protests, with it unclear whether her permission was sought for the deployment of the Defence Forces to clear vehicle blockades across the country.
As of writing, she has yet to clarify if she was informed prior to the deployment of soldiers against the protests.
“If the Minister wanted to talk about misogyny, she would be better off looking towards her own boys club Government colleagues who blindsided her and decided to deploy the Defence Forces against a peaceful protest without her input,” O’Flynn told Gript regarding the issue.