Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent Ireland Party)

I will respect and help people. That is my duty of care as a politician.

People then say that one of our party members made an assumption. That is his opinion. It does not have to be mine. Allow a person to have their own opinion. All I am asking for is to be able to have my own opinion. My opinion is that there are an awful lot of people out there who are scared and lack understanding. The world is changing. Friends of mine are gay, friends of mine are lesbian and friends of mine are transgender. Friends of mine are scared because their children are coming up. My job here is to help them regardless of whether I agree with them or not. The job of doctors is to help people whether they agree with them or not. Education on this is key.

As I said at the start, I have my own religion. I respect everyone else's religion, but respect mine. I have my opinion. It does not have to be the same as yours, but respect mine. At the end of the day, I am here to help, I am here to learn, I am here to give respect to whoever I can regardless of whether I agree with them or not. That is my opinion, and that is why I started off as I did. The Deputies thought I was going down a different road, but I am not.

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