Michael O’Leary: Dáil an assembly of halfwits and lunatics

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has said the current Dáil is the “worst assembly of halfwits and lunatics”.

The aviation leader made his comments at a breakfast briefing for businesses in the Midlands, where he said the electorate needed to take responsibility for choices made at the ballot box.

The event was organised by Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy. In typically bombastic style, Mr O’Leary said the public needed to stop voting for the “local lunatic” or “village idiot” if they wanted a strong, serious government.

“We, when given the opportunity, chose to vote in the worst assembly of half-wits and lunatics. I am referring to the Anti-Austerity Alliance and the Independents in the Dáil and then we wonder why we do not have decent or strong Government,” he said.

“In the worst of the property recession when the property developers had bankrupted us and the banks were bankrupt, who did we elect? Mick Wallace.”

The electorate cannot complain about the lack of progress made by the minority Fine Gael-Independent Government because it was what they voted for.

He also reserved strong criticism for The Irish Times and RTÉ for prioritising cyclists in Ranelagh and Drumcondra over others.

He said RTÉ was run by “left-wing communists” and called for it to be privatised.

“All you get is diatribe coming out of unions that passes for news. If you look at the BBC they don’t have industrial correspondents topping the news. They are actually dealing with the news so I think the best thing that could happen [to] RTÉ is to privatise it, break it up, and sell it and allow it to compete openly and fairly with Newstalk and other private sector media,” he said.