O’Keeffe’s quip on nuclear plant sparks furore

MAVERICK Fianna Fáil TD Ned O’Keeffe sparked a furious reaction last night when he said Ireland’s first nuclear power station could be built on his farm.

The backbencher, running as the party’s second candidate in the European elections in the Ireland South constituency, made the quip during a live radio debate with candidates.

“The French have nuclear fuel and the British have nuclear fuel and we have to be competitive and move forward,” he said.

The location of a nuclear plant would be a matter for the authorities, he said, before adding: “I’ve a farm that’s worth very little at the moment so it’s available to use.”

The Mitchelstown-based Cork East TD was speaking on the Last Word with Matt Cooper on Today FM after he was asked for his opinion on incineration.

His comments were greeted by a mixture of laughter from the live audience and shock from other candidates.

Fine Gael MEP Colm Burke accused Mr O’Keeffe of making “flippant facetious remarks” and of not taking the election or the issues seriously.

“We are no longer in boomy bertieland. These are serious times,” said Mr Burke.

“People are in very difficult circumstances – in some cases there are couples with children and a mortgage who have lost their jobs.

“I had two people break down and cry in front of me, within 20 minutes of each other, in Midleton the other day. People are very seriously affected by this recession.

“We need to be serious about who we are sending out to Brussels.”

Mr O’Keeffe is no stranger to controversy. In 1997, he was appointed Minister of State at the department of agriculture but he had to resign in 2001 when it emerged he had voted on a Dáil motion without declaring he had a beneficial interest in the subject matter.

He resigned the party whip in November 2007 when he was forced to vote confidence in Health Minister Mary Harney. He was re-admitted to the parliamentary party in February.