Cork politician criticised over refugee post
Cllr Ken O'Flynn: 'I find it sad and depressing that the snowflakes of society have decided to call me a racist.' Picture; Denis Minihane
A politician says he won’t apologise for calling for “checks and balances” on refugees fleeing the Taliban, and has hit out at those criticising him, calling them “snowflakes”.
Independent Cork City councillor Ken O’Flynn said he stood over his comments after being criticised on Tuesday for using an old photograph of a plane full of Afghan men which he described as a “flight coming in from Afghanistan” to support his calls.
The photograph was actually taken in 2018 and was used to illustrate a story about Afghans being deported from Turkey to Afghanistan.
But in his post on Facebook to accompany the photo, Mr O’Flynn wrote:
“Not one woman, not one child, just men,” he wrote.
“Checks and balances need to be put in place to ensure that these people coming into [sic] are genuine.
“And not the brainwashed who have live [sic] under Sharia Law.”
He said the photo was from Dave Atherton, who he said is a UK journalist.
Mr Atherton describes himself as a former contributor to Breitbart, the far-right syndicated news service which has been described as a the platform for the alt-right.
Mr Atherton posted the same photograph on social media earlier and said: “Not one woman, not one child, just fighting age men who want to live under Sharia Law.”
When it was pointed out the photograph was taken in 2018, Mr O’Flynn subsequently posted a clarification saying it was “an honest mistake” on his part. But he said he stood over his comments.
“I find it sad and depressing that the snowflakes of society have decided to call me a racist,” he said.
“You can’t say anything today without being accused of something.
“If you look at my post, there is no mention of race, no mention of coming into Ireland.
“I think we have to put women and children first when they are fleeing from a war-torn country.
“There has to be checks and balances to ensure that we don’t repeat mistakes of early 1990s when people came into Ireland and Europe under refugee status and it turned out that some of them were working for Taliban cells, in the area of financing, and for various other organisations associated with terrorism.
“We can’t have a repeat of history, of the things that Europe got wrong.”
Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman said the emergency situation in Afghanistan and the threat to human rights, particularly those rights of women and girls, was deeply concerning.
“We are working urgently to ensure that, in so far as Ireland can, a safe refuge can be provided here for those fleeing,” he said.
People Before Profit in Cork has condemned Mr O'Flynn’s comments and it called on the city council to suspend him while “investigating his hostility towards refugees”.
