'No thanks George': Senator Byrne hits out at planned Limerick 'Irexit' conference

AN ANTI-EU conference being held in Limerick this April has been criticize by a local Fine Gael Senator.  

Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne said the “sham gathering” will seek to promote incorrect information about Ireland’s role in the EU.

“Not content with destroying the UK through the idiocy of Brexit, Nigel Farage and his cronies have now set their eyes on Ireland,” Senator Byrne said. 

“The conference advertised for April is being promoted by the Irexit Freedom Party, led by Hermann Kelly Director of Communications for the Ukip-led Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the EU Parliament,” she added.

Senator Byrne appealed to the public not to engage with the conference or the false information being spun by its organisers.

“One of the key reasons Brexit came to pass was the decades of unchallenged euro scepticism from Farage that was allowed seep into the public mind and take root,” said Byrne.

This Thursday, Mr Hook confirmed to the Limerick Leader that he has been asked by the group to give a lecture at the event, which will focus on the ‘politically correct’ Irish media.

“Ireland has benefitted greatly from its European membership and while it is positive that 90% of Irish people repeatedly say in opinion polls that they wish to remain in the EU, we cannot be complacent,” Senator Byrne said.

“We must take on the lies and mistruths being spread; stand up for Ireland; and say no thanks George,” she added.

George Hook, who retired from Newstalk last December after 16 years with the station, was suspended from the national radio station following his comments about rape in September 2017. 

The broadcaster drew further criticism in October 2018 following a series of tweets focused on an Irish schoolboy who was facing deportation because of his mother’s Chinese nationality.