A Limerick activist for Fianna Fáil has publicly apologised for purportedly racist comments he made in a local paper regarding Chinese restaurateurs in the city.
The Limerick Leader reported that Joe Crowley claimed groups of Chinese fisherman were attempting to capture ducks at the Westfield Wetlands in Limerick to use in “crispy duck in the Chinese restaurant tonight”.
The paper quoted Crowley as saying: “To my mind, fishing from this platform can only spell one thing: these guys are out to get ducks.”
The claims drew immediatecriticism from organisations such as the European Network Against Racism (Enar), whose director Shane O’Curry called on Fianna Fáil party leader Micheal Martin to “make good the Anti Racism Election Protocol [that the party] signed in 2011 and expel Limerick local election candidate Joe Crowley”.
His sentiments were echoed by migrant rights NGO Doras Luimní, who said Crowley’s remarks “appear to be another attempts to grab headlines by drumming up xenophobia”.
In a statement, the group said: “On the one hand it’s ludicrous and bordering on comical; however there is a darker side to this which should not be ignored.
“Playing on people’s fears of new communities is an election tactic that we need to address sooner rather than later as it promotes racism and xenophobia while hindering much of the work that is going on to promote integration.”
In response to the controversy, Crowley told Metro Éireann he has apologised for his comments, and written to Doras Luimní with an offer to meet with anyone who felt aggrieved.
The politician described his original remark as a quick quip made in passing that was in “no way intended to be racist or derogatory”.
“I am hugely involved with the lake; it was only my intent to highlight that we don’t want people to fish there,” he said. “The reference to restaurants has turned out to be a bit of a misnomer.
“If I did come across sounding racist, I apologise profusely. I in no way intended to be racist, nor did I expect that these water fowl would end up for dinner.”
