Politicians condemn behaviour shown towards Taoiseach Simon Harris during Mayo visit

ELECTED representatives have lashed out at ‘pure thuggery’ directed towards Taoiseach Simon Harris and other elected representatives during an official visit to Mayo on Sunday last.

Taoiseach Harris was forced to abandon a scheduled press conference after he was heckled by members of the Burke family and local election candidate, Stephen Kerr, during a visit to Castlebar.

The Fine Gael leader was again confronted by the Burke family while canvassing in Westport with local Fine Gael TD Michael Ring and MEP Maria Walsh.

A garda spokesperson confirmed to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) that Gardaí in Mayo are investigating all the circumstances of the events which occurred in Westport.

Echoing comments made by Taoiseach Harris following the incidents, councillors Ger Deere (Fine Gael) and Brendan Mulroy (Fianna Fáil) condemned the behaviour of the Burke family and Mr Kerr.

Earlier that day, the Fine Gael leader performed the official opening of the Colm Horkan Memorial Pitch in Charlestown and also visited Swinford.

He then proceeded to Castlebar, arriving in Market Square with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Mayo TD and Minister of State, Alan Dillon, at approximately 3pm.

Taoiseach Harris was shouted at by Mr Kerr while inside a local café.

A scheduled press conference with local media was subsequently abandoned after the Taoiseach was continuously heckled.

He was accompanied by Minister McEntee and local Fine Gael politicians when visiting local businesses.

During his canvass, the Taoiseach and Minister McEntee were continuously shouted at and filmed by Sean Burke and his son, Simeon.

At one point, the Taoiseach described Sean Burke as ‘that rude man’ when interacting with a motorist.

Demonstration

THE previous day, members of the Burke family demonstrated against the imprisonment of family member Enoch Burke at the Mayo Pride Festival at the Octagon in Westport.

Enoch Burke is currently in prison for contempt of court after repeatedly defying a court order not to attend the Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath, where he had been working as a teacher.

The Burkes followed the Taoiseach to Westport, where they accused him of ‘running away’ for not answering questions about Enoch Burke’s imprisonment.

The Department of the Taoiseach confirmed later that Taoiseach Harris had been ‘pushed and jostled by a small number of people’ during his visit to Mayo.

Speaking to The Mayo News following the incidents, Cllr Deere said what happened was ‘not the way a Taoiseach or Minister for Justice should be treated, no matter what political party they’re from’.

Cllr Deere said children had been left upset by the behaviour shown towards the Taoiseach, which he described as ‘totally unacceptable’.

The Fine Gael councillor, who is standing in the Castlebar Local Electoral Area in Friday’s elections, said that democracy was being ‘eroded’ by the behaviour shown towards the Taoiseach and other politicians on Sunday.

“By all means, people are entitled to protest, but not in that aggressive manner,” Cllr Deere said.

He lashed out at election rival Stephen Kerr, describing his behaviour as ‘pure thuggery’.

Mr Kerr, who runs the Irish Inquiry website, is running for Mayo County Council in the Castlebar Local Electoral Area as an Independent. The Breaffy native, who has been an outspoken critic of the Government’s migration policy, filmed Simon Harris and Minister McEntee during their visit to Castlebar.

“Mr Kerr, he’s hoping to be elected in the next week and if this is how he behaves in a democracy, if people don’t agree with some of his views, is he going to come up with what we had to put up with today? If he wants to be part of democracy, that’s not the way to operate.”

Addressing the grievances expressed by the Burke family, Cllr Deere said: “The Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice cannot get involved with the legal, judicial system and Mr Burke knows that very well.”

Cllr Deere continued: “I thought we were lucky, up to this stage, where we were one of the few democracies where the Taoiseach of the country could go out freely. It was the same in Enda Kenny’s time. It’s gone to a stage, between social media and the aggressive nature of protest that it’s just not a nice place at the moment. Democracy is being eroded with this type of stuff.”

Cllr Deere called for action to be taken to prevent these sorts of incidents from happening in the future.

“Protest is part of democracy but not in the aggressive way, and if people have real genuine concerns, protest by all means and get your point across. That was just, as I keep saying, thuggery today [Sunday], and it has to be dealt with by the law.”

'Disgusted'

WESTPORT-based Fianna Fáil councillor Brendan Mulroy called on the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, to ensure that ‘any politician or any individual will be able to walk the streets of their town safely’.

Cllr Mulroy commended the gardaí who policed Taoiseach Harris’s visit and said that the Taoiseach would be welcomed back to Westport in future.

“It’s a minority of people that are causing this mayhem out and about in Westport this summer. I have met an awful lot of people who are disgusted that this behaviour could happen in the main street in Westport town on Sunday,” Cllr Mulroy told The Mayo News on Monday.

The long-serving representative said that younger people would be less likely to run for politics if abuse of politicians persisted.

There are 73 candidates running in Friday’s local elections, including 28 sitting councillors.

“I’ve experienced online abuse and received hate mail, but not to the extent that I’ve been jostled on the street. But the way things are going it’s only a matter of time before that happens to every politician,” Cllr Mulroy said.

Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh called for An Garda Síochána to be given additional support to ensure the safety of those campaigning and canvassing in the final days of the canvas.

The former Rose of Tralee said those who accosted the Taoiseach ‘made a show out of themselves and achieved nothing other than increasing the support for our campaign’.

“Ireland is one of the few countries where politicians, from local councillors to An Taoiseach, can roam the streets meeting members of the public. It gives voters an opportunity to speak directly with us, their public representatives, so that we can serve them best. It is a rarity and a privilege which we must protect,” she stated.

Addressing the remarks made towards him by the Burke family regarding Enoch Burke, Taoiseach Harris said that the family ‘clearly don’t understand’ how the Irish Constitution works.

“We live in a country where the courts and the Government are separate and people need to abide by the rules of our court. That’s a fundamental tenet of democracy, and it would be entirely inappropriate for me as Taoiseach to comment on a decision made in the court,” the Taoiseach stated.

“Anybody who expects the Taoiseach to do that clearly doesn’t understand how the Constitution of Ireland works.”