Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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We are two hours and 11 minutes into the meeting, I have been here for every piece of it and we are only starting. Clearly, we have bitten off more than we can chew for one meeting. We will need quite a lot more of these meetings because, I am afraid to say, the tragedy we are experiencing worldwide at the moment is possibly in its infancy. I do not see it improving in the near future anyway.

I have been a public representative for 40 years. The only thing I have experienced quite like this in my whole time was approximately 40 years ago when I was first elected. There was constant trouble in my county of Kerry with people who were opposing the housing of Travellers. The Travelling community was treated abominably. I attended public meetings where individuals said they would get their shotguns out if Travellers were housed in their vicinity. Thankfully, we have moved on. There are many problems still facing the Travelling community, but we have moved on. All I am saying is that we are going to have to tackle this.

I have listened to a lot and it is all very interesting. I will not repeat what anyone has said. The best thing I could do in the few minutes I have is to try to be a bit of a devil’s advocate by putting to the witnesses a few points that are being put to me by decent people who I meet. It is important to state straight away that many of the people who are protesting and who have expressed real concerns are not ultra-right, they are not Nazis and they are not fascists. They are people who are afraid. Very often, they are afraid of the unknown. If there has been a deficiency, it has been in information. I know it is a great old cant when you oppose something to say it was not communicated properly but very often, a breakdown in communication is at the core of the problem. My own town of Listowel experienced it in the last couple of weeks when a convent was made available to asylum seekers and immigrants. Immediately, every kind of rumour went around the town. However, I have to praise the local media of Radio Kerry and The Kerryman newspaper, which got to the facts and published them, which took all the heat out of that situation. There is an important role for the media, not just for social media, YouTube etc., but for the traditional media, such as radio and the local papers, to reassure people about what is going on.

I want to make a general point, which is that I do not buy into this idea of a far right in Ireland. I think it has been blown totally out of proportion, much of which I think is done for political reasons by people who are on the far left. I do not see a far right in Ireland. They are not represented in Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann. They have very little support in the community, and I would say less than 1% nationally. The far left is somewhat stronger than that and might be up to 2% or 3%. It suits one side to trade against the other and that is playing politics. We do not want that. Most people are not interested in the far right or the far left. They are interested in a safe environment and an ordered society where they can feel safe and raise their children.

Another thing I find in this country is that there is support for An Garda Síochána and for those who have been given the job of trying to monitor these protests without being too obtrusive and without exacerbating the problems. They are doing a mighty good job.

Finally, I have two questions for all the witnesses. First, do they take what I said about the far right? Is there any accuracy in my view that it is being hyped up by people on the left for their own reasons? That is the first question. Do they agree with me that all the agencies, including some that are present here today, need to change their language in relation to the Government? There is a kind of divide being created, much of which I put down to the far left. Good, decent people - maybe those who are present - are being gulled by it. We should focus on the real problem we have with the treatment of our immigrants and giving them the Christian, warm Irish welcome we all know and speak about, which has sadly been deteriorating somewhat.

The Government is doing its level best under circumstances it has never had to face before. It had to deal with Covid-19 and it did a fairly good job of it. It is trying to deal with this and it is not going to get easier for it. It is doing the best it can. It does not look good to me when non-government agencies that are well-funded by the taxpayer through the Government, many of which have big staffs and very well-paid CEOs, are always the first to take part in a parade and attack the Government.

I saw a ridiculous headline in The Irish Times where a reporter condemned the two main parties for not being in the parade last Saturday. Why in the name of God would politicians spend their Saturday parading and attacking themselves? I say this because the whole parade was anti-Government and it was anti-housing policy. We have a housing crisis, we have a problem with the cost of living and we have a problem in the areas of health and education but that is not what that parade was meant to be about. Therefore, a big danger for the groups is losing focus. We have to focus on the issue at hand and deal with it in a cogent way. I welcome the prospect of setting up a new co-ordination group.

I have thrown a few spanners in the works and I think it would be valid to have a look at them.