Kildare councillor accused of representing 'racist element'
Kildare's newest councillor Tom McDonnell has publicly stated he wants women to have more babies
A LOCAL elected representative has been accused of representing a "racist element" at a recent meeting of Kildare County Council.
Independent councillor Tom McDonnell described the remark made by Sinn Féin's Noel Connolly as "outrageous" and called for it to be withdrawn to the .
The incident stemmed from last week's monthly meeting of the council.
Cllr McDonnell had brought forward a motion proposing that the council “establishes an Irish Language Unit to further promote Irish language community development across the county”.
Speaking at the meeting, the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District member said that the Irish language is the “foundation of our culture”.
Sinn Féin councillor for the same area, Noel Connolly, also spoke at the meeting, saying that he supports the objective of the motion but does not support cllr McDonnell.
Speaking in Irish, cllr Connolly said: “Ba mhaith liom tacú le cuspóir an rún, ach gan aontacht leis tacaíocht a tabhairt don comhairleoir seo mar is fua liom an gné cníoch a léiríonn sé”.
This translates as: “I would like to support the objective of the motion, but I disagree with supporting this councillor because I hate the racist element that he represents”.
It is uncertain whether cllr McDonnell knew what the Irish language remarks meant at the time.
Fianna Fáil’s Leixlip councillor Bernard Caldwell asked cllr McDonnell if he could speak any Irish - to which cllr McDonnell responded in English, restating his wish that a unit be dedicated to the Irish language.
When the translation of the Irish remarks was put to cllr McDonnell after the meeting by the Kildare Nationalist, he said: “It’s an outrageous statement by councillor Connolly” and added that the latter “should withdraw that remark”.
Cllr McDonnell said: “I’m in favour of controlled immigration”.
Cllr McDonnell claimed there is an issue of “unvetted immigrants coming here and attacking our women and children”.
He mentioned the case of a man accused of sexually assaulting a ten-year-old girl in West Dublin last October.
On the matter of his ability to speak Irish, cllr McDonnell said he has “foundation Irish”.
Cllr Connolly told the after the meeting that he believed cllr McDonnell should be boycotted by his fellow councillors. The Sinn Féin councillor said that he is “very passionate” about the Irish language and therefore wanted to speak about the motion.
Cllr McDonnell's proposal for a dedicated language unit was deemed as "unnecessary" by the council and would be too costly to set up.
The response outlined how the council already works to promote the Irish language, both amongst staff and in the community.
It has a full-time Irish Language Officer, active Irish language committees, and runs or supports several Irish-language programmes, events and services.
The council also said that it works closely with Irish-language groups and supports Cill Dara le Gaeilge – a local community-based organisation – in its’ plans to develop an Irish cultural centre in Kildare.
Cllr Connolly – who is chair of the council’s Coiste Gaeilge – said that he wants the council to consider an expansion of its’ in-house Irish language team.
Director of services Joe Boland also spoke at the meeting to say that he welcomed the motion and that the council are getting through a large body of work related to the Irish language.
