Martin rebuke for party members who play up to a far-right agenda
TÁNAISTE Micheál Martin has sent a warning shot to councillors who publicly oppose the Government’s immigration policy ahead of the local elections.
The Fianna Fáil leader previously insisted two of his councillors will face a ‘rigorous’ disciplinary process over comments they made in support of protesters who blockaded a hotel in Co. Galway, which was due to host asylum seekers before it was set ablaze.
Sources have warned that clamping down on rebel councillors could result in widespread defections ahead of the local authority elections.
But Mr Martin said that, while ‘healthy debate is important’, politicians must not engage in populist rhetoric or disinformation that feeds a far-right agenda.
Speaking to the Irish Mail on Sunday at a pre-Christmas interview, the Tánaiste said: ‘People asking questions is important, but the line has to be drawn in terms of any nuance or any implication about blockading or burning places, or indeed suggesting that people, just because they are asylum seekers, are going to be the next day engaged in some terrible activity.’
Mr Martin said ‘some terrible rumours went about the place’ over the past yearand-a-half,
‘Some terrible rumours went about the place’
and that growing disinformation ‘has to stop’.
He cited a personal example: ‘Friends of mine were getting into taxis to be told somebody was raped last night. It wasn’t – there was no such event. That has to stop. We have to keep balanced and firm and fair about that, and not allow people send false stories up the field.’
Despite the disciplinary process being taken against Galway councillors Séamus Walsh and Noel Thomas, Mr Martin said he does not believe there will be a further drift of Fianna Fáil politicians who play the ‘Ireland is full’ card.
‘I don’t see that happening. I would agree with [Fianna Fáil Galway West TD] Éamon Ó Cuív. I think he put it very well in terms of his area of Connemara being particularly welcoming to Ukrainians and those seeking asylum.’
Referring to the arson attack on the Ross Lake House Hotel near Oughterard, Co. Galway, the Foreign Affairs Minister said he believes ‘Ireland is much better than what we saw in Galway’.
He added that while ‘there are challenges’ ahead, Ireland has an obligation to provide shelter to genuine asylum seekers and refugees.
And he said Ireland’s historical experience should be remembered in the context of the immigration challenges that this country is facing, along with other EU states.
‘There is a fundamental view in terms of how societies are organised: you provide shelter, you educate people, irrespective of background. We have the history as a country of seeking shelter all over the world in a different time.
‘In the 19th century, when we experienced famine and for a good 40 to 50 years afterward, Irish people went all over the world and were received, sometimes after challenging circumstances, but prospered and grew and developed and became part of society.
‘So, I think we have to be very clear on fundamental principles into the future and in terms of how our policies reflect that.’
Mr Martin was speaking after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned that ‘far-right myths’ are gaining traction, and that the Government has ‘a big job to do’ to explain the facts about immigration as it will be the big issue of 2024.
The Taoiseach dismissed claims that Ireland has open borders or is a soft touch for immigrants.
‘The idea that Ireland is somehow a soft touch – that’s nonsense,’ Mr Varadkar said.
‘When it comes to international protection the number of arrivals is about the EU average for the last two years and was well below the EU average for the preceding years,’ he said.
And we do have a rules-based system, and certainly when it comes to people coming from outside of Europe, the vast majority come with a student or work visa because we want them here and because we need them here.
‘They’re making huge contributions to our economy and our society, and I think we’re a better country for it.’
The Taoiseach also said it is important ‘to recognise that there are different forms of migration’.
He added: ‘Irish citizens migrating to Ireland – 30,000 Irish citizens return home every year. UK citizens come here too. Since independence UK citizens can live here on the same basis as Irish citizens. Then there’s migration from the EU. EU citizens can come to work, live, study and do business here provided they’re able to look after themselves, at least until the point where they become established.
‘Then there’s people who arrive here with student visas or work visas, and then there are people who come from Ukraine under the temporary protection rules, and then there are people who come here from elsewhere who are seeking international protection and the rules are all different for everyone and they are applied.’
However, people who ‘abuse’ our immigration system will be ‘dealt with’, he insisted.
‘Just as there are people who abuse our tax system, tax dodgers, just as there are people who abuse our welfare system, welfare cheats, there will be people who abuse our migration system,’ the Taoiseach said.
‘They need to be dealt with, but they’re not the majority of migrants They are a pretty small minority of migrants, and I think we just need to explain that a bit better.’
‘Ireland is better than what we saw in Galway’
mines or something else and he got hit in the back of his head,’ Mr Lepko explained. ‘All the lads had their main injuries on their hands, their legs and everything else. But he was unlucky. He was a young fella, only after military college.
He was a good man in terms of knowledge and everything else. He was young but we all listened to him.’
Just this week at least 30 people were killed and hundreds more wounded when Russia launched a massive air attack over Ukraine. Mr Lepko said the threat of air strikes from jets and drones is constant, and his trips ferrying people to and from the front line are extremely dangerous.
‘One jet fired a bomb on us – maybe not on us, but in the position where we had been. It was so close to our crew cab, but we escaped. We dropped the lads off very fast [to the front line] and got back. ‘Another time the Russians destroyed our unit’s support tank, and we were dropping the medics off to check the bodies in the tank. And all of a sudden on the way back, we looked out the window of the car and we saw a drone flying four or five metres away from us.’
That one was for surveillance, while a second ‘kamikaze’ drone followed behind.
‘We were lucky enough because the road there is up and down, up and down. We went down and the drone flew over the crew cab and hit the ground, probably five metres away from the car. And thank God the bomb was without any shrapnel. It was just a blast.’ Mr Lepko said only the vehicle’s wing mirror took any damage, joking that Mitsubishis are ‘the bestbuilt cars in the world’. He said the soldiers can move from their trenches only at dusk or at dawn when light is low, and cars must drive without lights.
‘We cover everything even inside the car just to make sure there’s no light whatsoever.
‘You have to learn the roads very well and the guys from my unit have to learn their area around the front line very quickly. Then if someone new arrives, they walk them from one point to another in complete darkness,’ he added.
Mr Lepko said another thing that some of his young comrades ‘couldn’t get over’ was having to carry the bodies of their dead friends. ‘In some ways, we might be lucky enough because we lost only one life in our unit. Other units we know, a lot of people have died. We’ve had a few injuries – one is still there in hospital, but it’s better than death,’ he said.