Casey back in fray and taking aim at welfare recipients
‘State of welfare dependency’
PETER Casey is back in the race for the Áras – after he said ‘thousands’ of people got in contact with him pleading with the Presidential candidate to continue in the election.
The businessman had suggested he may drop out of the race over division caused by his comments about Travellers.
But in an open letter published in a newspaper yesterday, the multi-millionaire switched the target of his ire from Travellers to social welfare recipients – hitting out at a ‘sense of entitlement’ some of them have.
Mr Casey wrote the letter to outline his reasons for deciding to stay in the race, after claiming on Friday that he was considering withdrawing in the wake of criticism branding his comments about Travellers as ‘racist’.
In it, he said Ireland needs ‘to acknowledge the hard-working taxpayers of this country and reward them for being the lifeblood of our economy and not penalise them’. ‘The socialist politicians are focusing all their interests on welfare and social housing but have forgotten about the bill payers, the mortgage payers and the taxpayers,’ he said.
Mr Casey also said working families received very little in the budget, while ‘couples on benefits get an increase of hundreds of euro per year’. The former Dragons’ Den star wrote: ‘We wonder why the nation is dividing.
‘I want to state that there are many people, very vulnerable in this country, who are disabled, elderly, in care or for whatever reason can’t work. And they deserve every penny in support if not more. But Ireland is slowly become a welfare-dependent state, with a sense of entitlement that’s become unaffordable. Where is the incentive to work in this country? We have become a nation of people who expect... no, demand... that the State looks after them, pays all their bills, provides them with homes, provides all sorts of social benefits. As proud Irish people, we are better than that. We need to restore our national pride.’
When asked if she thought the entrepreneur’s short-lived threat to drop out of the race was a publicity stunt, one of his Áras rivals, Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada, told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘Whether it was a publicity stunt or not, the fact that the message from this multi-millionaire has moved from attacking the Travelling community to attacking vulnerable families dependent on social welfare... shows his platform is toxic and corrosive to political discourse and social cohesion.’
Fellow Presidential candidates Seán Gallagher, Gavin Duffy and President Michael D Higgins have not yet responded to a request for comment on Mr Casey’s open letter and his criticism of some welfare dependents.
Mr Casey became embroiled in a racism row after he suggested Travellers should not be recognised as an ethnic minority and accused them of ‘camping on other people’s land’ and not paying their share of taxes. He later paid a visit to the Traveller housing development close to Thurles, Co. Tipperary, to which he had been referring in his comments.
Mr Casey refused to meet them however, citing ‘respect for their privacy’. The extended family is currently involved in a dispute with the council over grazing land for their horses. The Travellers have said they won’t move into a housing development offered by the council because the council has not provided grazing land they say they were promised.
Mr Casey said he was encouraged to stay on the campaign trail after being inundated with messages of support.
In his open letter, he said that over the last couple of days, he has been ‘troubled’ and hurt by being branded a racist. Mr Casey even rounded on Leo Varadkar’s condemnation of his controversial remarks, by saying: ‘To hear the Taoiseach, who I always respected, say people shouldn’t vote for me also hurts, deeply.
‘To hell with it, I thought, if people want to believe all the nonsense, then I’m just throwing up my hands and walking away from politics,’ Mr Casey wrote.
‘Then something happened, something remarkable. I received literally thousands of texts, emails, and phone calls saying: “Don’t quit. You’re the only who talks about the issues with honesty”.’
All six candidates are due to feature in a Prime Time debate on RTÉ One tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, Ms Ní Riada has called on President Michael D Higgins to clarify why works were carried out at public expense at his private property in Galway.
It was revealed at the weekend that the Office of Public Works (OPW) carried out landscaping and installed electronic gates for ‘security reasons’ at the house, which is occupied by the President’s son, Daniel.
Ms Ní Riada said: ‘Reports [in the Sunday Times] today say that the work included landscaping, which hardly falls under the security category.’ A spokesman for the President told the Mail the works were required to maintain security measures that had been advised by the Garda.
The latest opinion poll suggests Mr Higgins will easily win the race, with 69% support. His nearest rival is Seán Gallagher on 11%.
‘He’s attacking vulnerable families’