Mick gets attention with shirt of many colours!
WHILE Wexford TD Mick Wallace’s chosen Dáil attire has generated quite an amount of discussion and column inches in the past, even by his standards he stood out in Leinster House as he donned a type of pink African tunic.
Deputy Wallace was speaking about funding for the deaf community, whose organisation the Irish Deaf Society is said to be in dire straits and may have to cut vital services due to a lack of long-term structural funding. However, he was also keen to discuss his choice of attire and the reason behind it. ‘I notice that you like my unusual shirt,’ he said to Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó’Fearghaíl.
‘I never said a word about your shirt,’ Mr Ó’Fearghaíl shot back. ‘I just knew,’ came the reply from the Wexford TD.
‘I never asked you about your shirt,’ laughed the Ceann Comhairle.
‘No. I just knew,’ Deputy Wallace said. ‘I was asked to wear it in solidarity with the people of Malawi by the Irish Ambassador to Malawi, Gerry Cunningham, and I’m wearing it today in solidarity with the people of Malawi but also in solidarity with a most special group, the Irish Deaf Society.’
While previously his fashion choices, such as the infamous Torino jersey, came in for criticism, this one seemed to go down well.
Minister of State Catherine Byrne, who he had been questioning on funding for the Irish Deaf Society, said: ‘I think it’s lovely too. I have to be honest with you, I think the colour suits you, but you always wear bright colours anyway!’