A Fianna Fáil councillor in Limerick has been called out for making sweeping statements against immigrants at a council meeting.
Cllr Kevin Sheahan was criticised by immigrant support group Doras Luimní following a recent meeting of Limerick County Council at which he called for an ‘Irish-first’ policy to be adopted for housing in the county.
The councillor is said to have told the meeting that native Irish people in need of social housing were being told to “go home to mammy” while immigrants allegedly had easier access once they “breezed” into the country, as reported in the Irish Examiner.
“We should put our own people first,” Cllr Sheahan said. “Our economy is tight and we can ill-afford to do anything else. We need the policy along the lines passed in England.”
In a statement to Metro Éireann, Doras Luimní refuted the “sad” claims made by Cllr Sheahan, describing them as “dangerous” rhetoric that would only divide the communities.
“The discussion of migrants in the manner demonstrated by Cllr Sheahan has a detrimental impact on how migrants are publicly perceived and treated,” said the group’s integration policy officer Matt Cannon. “The comments are based on untrue and unfounded assumptions and only serve to heighten anti-immigrant sentiment.
“This type of rhetoric becomes increasingly dangerous as economic circumstances create a situation where people seek a scapegoat in the form of a group of people or a community, which can all too easily be found in the ‘other’.”
According to Doras Luimní, immigrants in Co Limerick “are not given priority on any list for local authority housing”.
Immigrant applicants for social housing, Cannon added, “must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as outlined by the local authority in regard to the allocation of housing.
“Furthermore an ‘Irish-first’ policy would only serve to segregate society and create an unwanted situation where new immigrants are left homeless or must live in sub-standard accommodation resulting in systemic inequality.”
Cannon said many of the immigrant community to which Cllr Sheahan referred are now Irish citizens.
A spokesperson for Fianna Fáil commented: “Cllr Kevin Sheahan was speaking in a personal capacity. The views he expressed do not in any way represent the views or policy of the Fianna Fáil party.”
There was no comment from Cllr Sheahan at press time.
