Healy Rae attacks Dempsey’s ‘insane’ move
The independent councillor and mayor of Kerry also described the entire process as a “debacle” and criticised the minister for not admitting he got it wrong.
He was speaking on Cork’s 96FM yesterday as he recovered at home from his fundraising efforts for People in Need last week.
Mr Healy Rae launched his broadside during a conversation with broadcaster Neil Prendiville on the failure of politicians to admit when they get it wrong, and apologise.
“Take for example the debacle over the last few days,” said Mr Healy Rae.
“I only heard about it on Saturday. Sure any person, or any minister that signed off on that, and said that’s a good idea, well, to be blunt, they’d want to go and get themselves checked out.
“Because nobody in their right mind would do that.
“How could you impose such a thing where you’d be telling young fellas who are going to work on Wednesday morning: ‘Oh, I’m very sorry you can’t drive to work now at all today’.
“And I say it again, anybody that would do that, and think that was all right, and that you could do that to young people who are paying loans and mortgages — it was crazy, it was ill conceived.”
He went on to criticise the minister for not admitting he got it wrong.
“Wouldn’t it be grand the next day if a person was to say: ‘Look I got it wrong, I’m sorry’? You don’t ever hear any politicians coming out and saying ‘I’m sorry, I was wrong’.
“That was an insane decision to go taking. Look at the effect that would have on people. What were they going to do? Go thumbing on Wednesday or get up on their bikes? And the crazy thing about it is the gardaí weren’t told about it. A lot of things happen like that which are stupid.”
Mr Healy Rae said Irish politics needed “a big dose of common sense”.
He said: “There is nothing in the world more valuable. You can go to all the universities in the world and you could be the smartest person in the world, but if you didn’t have common sense, you were going nowhere.
“You shouldn’t go outside the door without some bit of common sense between your two ears — you can’t manage in this world without it.”
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