Bertie Ahern receives backlash over 'vile and odious comments' made in secret recording
A video, recorded without the former Taoiseach's prior knowledge, was uploaded to social media and has received major backlash
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is receiving major backlash over comments he made about immigrants while being recorded without his knowledge.
In a video shared to social media, Bertie Ahern can be heard saying that although he has no problem with Ukrainians fleeing war coming into Ireland, he said "the ones I'm worried about are the Africans...we can't be taking in people from the Congo and these places. I think there is too many."
He then goes on to say he is worried about "the next generation of Muslims and some of the kids that are growing up."
Mr Ahern received backlash on social media following the upload of this video with Taoiseach Michael Martin today, on Wednesday May 13, issuing a statement on the matter.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that views on immigration expressed by Bertie Ahern don't represent the views of Fianna Fáil or their candidate in Dublin Central, according to a report by RTE.
The Taoiseach said that Mr Ahern’s comments in the video were "not appropriate" and said: "I think it’s not appropriate, in my view, to be specific about any given ethnicity. And that's not, in my view, correct or proper."
"We have to respect people with many different ethnicities in Ireland, many Irish citizens with different ethnic backgrounds, and that has to be respected."
The Taoiseach also said that Ireland has a "fair and robust" asylum system, pointing to reforms brought in by Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan towards an "efficient and accelerated process," according to RTE.
The Taoiseach said that asylum cases and appeals are now dealt with in a timely manner and that "quite a number" of applications do not achieve asylum status.
"I think one of the big problems in the past was that the process went on for years, and it went on too long. And I think we now have that.
"We have a broader migration story where people work, come into work in our health service through work permits or through the European Union, and are very, very valuable part of our economic life and of our healthcare system, and indeed our caring system as well".
According to the RTE report, People Before Profit's Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin condemned what he called Bertie Ahern's "vile and odious comments."
Labour Party candidate Ruth O'Dea said: "The comments are not only harmful, but hurtful to the people who live in the constituency he once represented. They are untrue and ill-informed".
The Green Party's Janet Horner said the comments were "yet another shameful example during this bye-election campaign of punching down on migrants."