Mayor: Sorry. I got it wrong
THE Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Kevin Kiely, has apologised for any offence he caused when he called for the deportation of EU nationals who have failed to find work in Ireland. He has withdrawn the controversial remarks made to the Limerick Leader this Wednesday.
Accepting that his views had been accurately quoted by the Limerick Leader, the mayor added: "I still am of the opinion and so are others, that have approached me in recent days, that there is abuse of the Irish social welfare system. But in seeking to highlight this I inadvertently caused offence to others, which I very much regret."
In an interview in the Wednesday edition of the Limerick Leader, Mayor Kiely called for the deportation of EU nationals who have not been in work for three months or more and said: "We are borrowing j400 million per week to maintain our own residents and we can't afford it. During the good times it was grand, but we can't afford the current situation unless the EU is willing to step in and pay for non-nationals."
The mayor's comments sparked a storm of debate across the country and dominated national and local airwaves. The Limerick Today show on Limerick's Live 95FM was inundated with calls and texts about the Leader interview with many listeners expressing their support for the mayor. However Mayor Kiely was strongly criticised in political circles for his comments. Ireland South MEP Alan Kelly called for him to resign.
"I find those comments outrageous, for a Mayor of a city like Limerick which has always been welcoming to people to come out with comments like that is absolutely outrageous," he said.
Former Fine Gael MEP John Cushnahan urged Mayor Kiely to withdraw his comments. "I deeply regret the comments made by Cllr Kevin Kiely, the Mayor of Limerick. I consider them to be unacceptable and as a former Fine Gael member of the European Parliament I wish to totally disassociate myself from them," he said.
Defence Minister Willie O'Dea said: "The thing about it is, there is free movement in the EU. We can go to other members states in the EU and they can come here. That's the law. There is no need for the mayor to resign. He's entitled to his opinion like everybody else."
Doras Luimni, the local support group for migrants in Limerick, said it is deeply concerned at and outraged by the mayor's comments. "EU nationals did not cause the economic decline and these are dangerous comments from the first citizen of Limerick. Migrants are in integral part of our community and contribute economically, socially and culturally to Limerick city and county. We know his comments do not represent the majority voice of the people of Limerick but they must be retracted," said Karen Mc Hugh, CEO of Doras Luimni
A spokesperson for Fine Gael would only say: "Kevin Kiely is expressing his own opinions and these are not Fine Gael policy."
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Weather for Limerick
Tuesday 22 May 2012
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