Casey: I won’t quit Aras race
Presidential candidate refuses to apologise and attacks ‘welfare dependence’
BUSINESSMAN Peter Casey has decided to remain a candidate in the presidential election after a week of controversy over his views on Traveller culture and ethnicity.
In an article in the Sunday Independent today, Mr Casey steadfastly refuses to apologise for his remarks, and attempts to open another front in his controversial campaign by describing Ireland as a “welfare-dependent state” which, he says, has led to a “sense of entitlement that’s become unaffordable”.
The latest opinion poll on the presidential election shows Mr Casey has doubled his support to 2pc.
Today, he writes: “We have become a nation of people who expect, no demand, that the State looks after them. Pay all of their bills, provide them with homes, provide all sorts of social benefits.”
Yesterday, Fianna Fail Social Protection spokesman Willie O’Dea hit back at the businessman, saying his comments were an “attempt to breathe life into outdated rhetoric”.
However, the Sunday Independent can also reveal that at least four ministers in Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s Cabinet have opposed Traveller accommodation in their constituencies.
Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, Arts Minister Josepha Madigan and Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring have all supported local opposition to Traveller accommodation.
Today, Mr Casey, a former Dragons’ Den panellist, says he was going to quit politics after he was accused of being a racist over comments he made about the Travelling community.
However, he is now “more determined than ever to remain in the race” after being inundated with messages of support.
He also refuses to apologise for his comments about Traveller ethnicity because he believes they are “first and foremost” Irish citizens.
“I believe, if we all accepted them more as ‘Irish’, we would do so much more to remedy their long-standing problems, like chronic unemployment, homelessness, and a suicide rate that is six times the national average,” he says.
The under-fire businessman also uses the article to criticise what he calls “socialist politicians” who are focusing their attentions on welfare and social housing while forgetting “the bill-payers, the mortgage-payers and the taxpayers”.
Hours before writing his article, Mr Casey told the Sunday Independent during a telephone interview that he was “swaying towards pulling out” of the presidential race due to the controversy over comments he made about Travellers on Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast.
Mr Casey said he was considering quitting the race because his mother would not like to see him elected as president of Ireland while being accused of bigotry towards Travellers.
“Everyone who knows me knows there’s not a racist bone in my body,” he added.
During the interview, Mr Casey branded Taoiseach Leo Varadkar a “hypocrite” for attacking him while promoting ministers to Cabinet who opposed Traveller accommodation and ethnicity.
He also said the Taoiseach’s suggestion that people should vote against Mr Casey was “unconstitutional”.
And he accused Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan of calling him an “American blow-in who knows nothing about Irish politics” when he was campaigning for a Seanad seat.
“Charlie and I have history that goes back — we just don’t like each other,” Mr Casey said.
The minister’s spokesperson said Mr Flanagan never watched Dragons’ Den and only became aware of Mr Casey once the presidential election campaign began.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Independent can reveal at least four Cabinet ministers appointed by the Taoiseach have opposed the construction of Traveller accommodation in their constituencies.
In July, two of Mr Varadkar’s local Fine Gael councillors voted against Traveller accommodation being developed in Coolquay on the edge of the Taoiseach’s constituency in West Dublin.
Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, who criticised Mr Casey last week, publicly supported the campaign to block the development.
The project, which involved reloc ating Traveller families who lived near Dublin Airport to allow for the construction of a new runway, was overwhelmingly supported by Fingal County Council.
Fine Gael’s Eithne Loftus and Kieran Denison were among the four councillors out of 40 who voted against the proposed halting site.
Minister Doherty also confirmed she supported local residents who had serious concerns about the proposed site and potential risks of flooding. More than 600 people lodged complaints over the development proposed for Coolquay, which has a population of about 100 residents. The project was eventually stalled following a High Court case taken on behalf of the community.
Ms Doherty said local residents would have no issue with the halting site if an environmental impact study showed the area was suitable for the Traveller accommodation and posed no flood risks.
The Taoiseach’s spokesman said he was “broadly supportive” of the Coolquay halting site as it would facilitate the expansion of Dublin Airport. However, he noted the “proposal for Traveller accommodation in a neighbouring constituency, not in the Taoiseach’s constituency of Dublin West”.
“In 15 years as a councillor and TD, the Taoiseach has never opposed Traveller accommodation in his own constituency,” he added.
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan also opposed Traveller accommodation in his home town of Mountmellick, Co Laois, in the 1990s. Mr Flanagan’s spokesperson said he voted with Fine Gael councillors. The minister was also a vocal critic of the Government’s decision to give special recognition to Traveller ethnicity.
Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring also successfully opposed the development of a halting site in his native Westport, Co Mayo, in the 1980s.
Arts Minister Josepha Madigan was criticised for publicly campaigning against the development of a halting site in Mount Merrion in South County Dublin.
Yesterday, Mr Casey said: “Leo obviously has no problem appointing people to Cabinet who hold similar views to me.”
OKAY, I’m just going to say it: I’ve been troubled the past couple of days. To read articles that say I am a racist hurts. To hear the Taoiseach, whom I have always respected, say people shouldn’t vote for me also hurts, deeply.
I was so shaken up by it all, I considered dropping out of the race.
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.
Then something happened, something remarkable. I received thousands of texts, emails and phone calls saying: “Don’t quit. You’re the only who talks about the issues with honesty.”
“You are the one candidate, who isn’t reciting the same political malarkey we’ve been hearing forever.”
“Stay in the race. And furthermore, no one is telling me who to vote for.”
To get that kind of support was amazing. And it has made me more determined than ever to remain in the race.
First off, about the Travellers.
Anyone who has followed my campaign knows my number-one issue has been the diaspora. Having lived around the world, I recognise the strength of the worldwide Irish community. No matter where you go, you would be shocked at how many people, many who’ve never even visited our country, identify themselves first and foremost as “Irish”.
More than 40m “Irish” live in the United States right now; more than a third of all Australians are “Irish”; and there are seven times as many “Irish” living outside Ireland than within our borders. This “Irish” pride, which contains many of the worldwide leaders in politics, business and science, is our greatest untapped asset. Any country would love having this asset and like I have often said: Why should we act like a small country, when we are already a great nation?
I have spoken at length about all the ways to harness this Irish pride to strengthen Ireland’s prominence. And I will do whatever I can to unite the worldwide Irish communities, whether they are in Boston, Bombay or wherever. And when someone talked to me recently about the Travellers, who have lived in Ireland for centuries, I rightly viewed them as “Irish” too.
They live in our country, go to our schools, and vote in our elections. In fact, I believe, if we all accepted them more as “Irish”, we would do so much more to remedy their long-standing problems, such as chronic unemployment, homelessness and a suicide rate that is six times the national average.
I respect the Travellers’ culture and traditions, but I will always think of them first and foremost as “Irish” too.
If that is wrong, I am not apologising.
There isn’t enough space to go into great depth about all my campaign’s concerns and promises, so I will just quickly cover them here:
Homelessness is a terrible problem. Every child should have a “home”, that is beyond debate.
I believe we need better and more inventive urban planning in Dublin; we have to make rural Ireland much more attractive to businesses; and I think we should emulate FDR’s GI Bill and create a national programme that helps first-time buyers purchase homes. It will not be easy, but history demonstrates it can be done.
Living in Donegal, right across the water from Northern Ireland, I know how miserable internet service is in rural Ireland. It makes conducting business and all communications too difficult.
Recently, near my home, I came upon a horrific accident and we couldn’t get in touch with an ambulance in time to help the person. So I know the anger and frustration rural Ireland feels.
We don’t need to bury more cable or spend hundreds of millions on infrastructure or be held hostage by governmental indifference. There are 4G solutions which can be implemented simply and inexpensively.
And lastly, how do we help so many of our people who have trouble making ends meet and cannot escape living pay cheque to pay cheque?
The struggling class among the squeezed middle class!
As much as I won’t have the power to make change, I will be the First Citizen and as such, I want to influence the government in power to support every man, woman and child in the country.
We need to acknowledge the hard-working taxpayers of this country and reward them for being the lifeblood of our economy and not penalise them.
The average working family of John and Mary with two kids watched that budget two weeks ago to see what was in it for them. They wondered what thanks the Government was going to give them for getting up in the morning and sacrificing their time to pay taxes to fund the State.
Guess what, they got nothing, or least very little apart from a reduction in USC to 0.25pc.
Meanwhile they watched couples in the same situation on benefits get an increase of hundreds of Euro per year when you include increases in all benefits from March. How do you think that makes people feel? Then 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; they deserve every penny in support, if not more.
But Ireland is slowly becoming a welfare-dependent state, with a sense of entitlement that’s become unaffordable. The socialist politicians are focusing all their interests on welfare and social housing and have forgotten about the bill-payers, the mortgage-payers and the taxpayers.
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 and our national identity.
Where are the rewards and support for the families who are getting up early in the morning for work, struggling to pay their bills?
All I’ll say is, as a lifelong entrepreneur and businessman, we all need to work together to create new ideas that will make life easier and better for more people.
‘I want the government to support every man, woman and child’