There were heated scenes during Wednesday’s Dáil debate on immigration on Tuesday, with Michael Healy-Rae hitting out at Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, calling him “a horrible little man” for his remarks about the Rural Independent Group.
During today’s two-hour debate on a Private Members Immigration Motion by the Rural Independents, Ó Ríordáin accused the group of “lowest common denominator politics” from “a lowest common denominator political grouping.”
“I am used to hearing the rhetoric from the Rural Independents in regards to immigration and I am used to being disgusted by it,” he said.
After branding the group ‘cowards, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae interjected: “Sorry, a Chathaoirligh Gníomhach, we are no cowards. We will not take that language at all.”
“We were never cowards. Never in our lives were we cowards and I will not take that from this blackguard either,” Healy-Rae added in the aggravated engage with the Labour TD.
“A number of years ago, one of the Deputies opposed suggested that asylum seekers were hoodlums, blackguards and freeloaders,” Deputy Ó Ríordáin continued, to which Healy-Rae retorted, “We never said that.”
The Dublin Bay North TD went on to slam the group stating: “There is nothing more despicable, more cowardly and more debased in Irish politics than the actions of the members of the Rural Independent Group in relation to the immigration question.”
After several interruptions, An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Verona Murphy, had to interject, telling Healy-Rae that he was “free to leave” but to stop interrupting.
“Five times over the past month, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, in particular, has linked criminality with immigration. Five times, on the record of this House, the Deputy has said that elderly people, women and children are scared alive because of immigration. Is he in any way surprised that he is raising temperatures, tension and fear in local communities,” Ó Ríordáin continued, which prompted Healy-Rae to respond: “I never said that.”
“You know exactly what you are doing,” the Labour TD told Healy-Rae.
“Speak through the Chair or I will suspend the House. It is as simple as that,” Mr Ó Ríordáin was told by Deputy Verona Murphy.
At this, Michael Healy-Rae interjected, stating, “He cannot help it. He is a horrible person and he cannot help but being horrible.”
“An absolutely horrible man,” Healy-Rae continued over calls for order.
“Deputy Ó Ríordáin has no respect for other people either,” Deputy Carol Nolan added.
The Labour TD continued to blast the Rural Independents, stating:
“Two weeks after somebody set fire to a bus on O’Connell Street and had a riot through the city, they must be laughing this morning that the national Parliament is having a discussion on immigration,” he said.
“They must be delighted that the Rural Independent Group listened to their call and put down a motion on immigration. They must be absolutely delighted. I say, “Well done, congratulations.”
“I will not stand in this Chamber and listen to the type of lies, fearmongering,” Mr Ó Ríordáin added, which prompted a defence from Mattie McGrath, who replied, “The Deputy cannot accuse us of telling lies.”
Mr Ó Ríordáin was then asked by Deputy Verona Murphy to retract the word ‘lies’ as Michael Healy-Rae resumed his challenge of Ó Ríordáin, stating: “He is a horrible little man and he cannot contain himself.”
“He is a horrible man,” Healy-Rae repeated, as Deputy Michael Collins added, “How anyone gets him to represent them I do not know.”
After saying he would withdraw the word ‘lies’ and use ‘untruths’ instead, Healy-Rae retorted, “That is a withdrawal there. Horrible little man.”
“I will say what I have to say without fear of legal action by Members opposite,” Deputy Ó Ríordáin continued. “ I will say the following about immigration and this country: we have a moral and an historical obligation in this because the Irish are all over the world.
“We have an obligation to be as accommodating and welcoming as possible. The Government has a responsibility to give information to the entire country about the nature of our process and system but we also have a moral and an historical obligation to never stoop to the depths of the Rural Independent Group and to say to the outsider, “You are not welcome, we must be fearful of you and vote for me.”
This prompted a response from Michael Collins TD, who told the Labour TD, “The Labour Party took women’s pensions away from them.”
“The death tax,” Deputy Michael Healy-Rae responded.
“They were never about the rights of the Irish,” Deputy Collins continued, labelling the party “a disgrace.”
“We know what Labour’s history was,” said Michael Healy-Rae, as Deputy Danny Healy-Rae joined the conversation, stating, “They closed the Garda stations all around rural Ireland.”
“Labour are finished in this House. They are finished in Irish politics. They are history,” Deputy Michael Healy-Rae added.
“Labour is an irrelevant party – that is what is wrong with Labour,” Michael Healy-Rae continued, before being told by An Cathaoirleach Verona Murphy, “I will not ask again.”
“You are hurting your motion,” she told the Rural TDs regarding their interruptions.
Moments before, Deputy Danny Healy-Rae had described the debate as an “important” one – as he told the House that he would “not be told what to say or not to say, or be muzzled in this Chamber, outside it, or anywhere else.”
He told certain TDs that he took exception to being called “various names” – adding, “Even outside the chamber, we have been called cowards.”
“Anyone who knows the Healy-Raes, going back as far as I can remember, will know none of them was ever a coward. I am not afraid of those who make these allegations here, there or anywhere. It is very unfair of people to use the public airways to call us cowards,” he added.
The Kerry Independent told the Dáil that “while we welcome people here for whatever reason they come,” there “has to be a place called Stop when they have an impact on our own services.”
“Clearly, Kerry County Council has indicated we do not have the services to take any more because they are having an impact on the services of our own people,” he said.
Deputy Healy-Rae also questioned how Georgia could have emerged as a leading country of origin for applicants in 2022 – despite being declared a safe country of origin by the Department of Justice.
“All we want is fair play. That is what we are asking for here today,” he said.
Michael Healy-Rae, meanwhile, pointed out that for many decades,he had been providing housing to Irish people, and recently to some Ukrainian families who had come to Ireland.
He described the conversation around immigration as “a constant topic of debate in every kitchen, workplace and coffee shop across the nation.”
He continued, “The current challenges in the immigration and asylum systems, coupled with the growing concerns of the public, emphasise the urgent need for a thorough and sincere debate on Ireland’s immigration policies and their impact on our communities and resources.”
He went on to describe the experiences of Irish immigrants abroad, stating:
“We hear people saying we have to do everything because we were welcomed abroad and got this and that. To be honest, we got nothing. What we got was the opportunity to leave here with nothing except what we could carry in our hands and go somewhere and say we were prepared to work and do whatever was wanted.
“It was not a case of filling out a form and getting everything handed to you. That did not happen.”
He said that while he had been accused of “scaremongering” around the issue of documentation, he insisted his figures came from the Department.
“According to the figure from the Minister’s Department, 40% of people who land here seeking international protection somehow or other miraculously do not have documentation,” Deputy Healy-Rae said.
“I want an explanation. How is that the case? Why would 40% of people coming here lose their passports? Do 40% of the Irish people who go somewhere lose their passports? No, they do not. It is not normal or right. There has to be an explanation.”
Addressing his remarks in her speech, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said:
“It is essential that we provide those who are in need of international protection with that status and all of the protections that go with it as quickly as possible.
“As to Deputies’ point that Irish people got nothing when they went abroad, they did not, but why would we want that for someone who is here seeking protection and who needs help? We need to ensure that we can at least provide people with the basics when they come here seeking our assistance.”
The Justice Minister, who survived a Motion of No Confidence this week, used her speech to reference “ the mistruths and lies of the far right” which she said had been “spread” in the events of recent days.