Elaine Loughlin: Wallace and Daly fail to reflect the wishes of the people they represent

Clare Daly and Mick Wallace were among just 13 MEPs to vote against a motion condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanding Vladimir Putin immediately pull his troops out.

Wallace and Daly may have been elected as ‘Independents 4 Change’ but now their views have become truly independent of the people who sent them to Europe

What has become of Mick Wallace and Clare Daly?

The two Irish MEPs, previously well-regarded and at times admired as political disrupters, have spiralled so far down an anti-US, anti-Europe, pro-Putin radical conspiracy theory black hole that they have become pariahs in Europe, even among some of their own.

While it is easy to dismiss the Independents 4 Change MEPs, whose utterances and actions have gained them notoriety among their parliament colleagues, they were elected to represent voters in two separate Irish constituencies.

One Irish source in Brussels said: “MEPs that mightn’t know much about Ireland have asked me: ‘Is this the view of Ireland?’ Because they see two people who are very vocal, obviously democratically elected, advocating the most bizarre nonsense.

“They are just obsessed with this anti-neoliberalism, anti-Nato, anti-American ideals and they are aligning themselves with terrorist organisations in some countries — in Iran and Iraq and elsewhere.”

Their increasingly extreme views came to a head last week when they were among just 13 MEPs from across Europe who voted against a motion condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanding Vladimir Putin immediately pull his troops out.

The resolution received overwhelming support, with 637 MEPs voting in favour. However, Wallace and Daly immediately pivoted to accuse the EU of “manipulating public anger to accelerate militarisation”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Andrei Gorshkov, AP

Both were quick to point out that they had voted on a clause within the motion that denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“So while forthrightly condemning the Russian illegal invasion of Ukraine — and the voting record shows that we voted for those parts of the resolution — what we opposed was the increasing of arms into Ukraine, the acceleration of Nato involvement, and the acceleration of militarism and military expenditure inside the EU,” Daly told RTÉ radio.

While this is true, many members from across the political spectrum had strong reservations about parts of the motion and voted against clauses such as the proposals relating to liquified natural gas. However, the vast
majority went on to act for the greater good in supporting the overall resolution.

If MEPs had adopted the same petty policy as Wallace and Daly, the resolution would have failed and our politicians would have sent out a disturbing message that Europe tolerates the atrocities currently being inflicted on Ukraine.

Wallace and Daly know this.

A Ukrainian serviceman helps evacuees gathered under a destroyed bridge, as they flee the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 7, 2022. Picture: Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP

On Sunday, as Putin’s army defied a ceasefire agreement and continued to bombard the port city of Mariupol, leaving civilians trapped without water and heat, Daly continued to argue that Russia had “genuine security concerns, which are legitimate”.

She said: “This narrative that somehow the war is happening
because we’re dealing with some crazed maniac in the form of Putin is a distortion of the reality that one of the contributing factors to this situation has been the constant destabilisation of that region by Nato.”

However, their radical views go far beyond the borders of Russia and, since being elected to Brussels in 2019, they have been criticised, ostracised, and sanctioned over their actions.

It is understood that more moderate members of the Left group
to which they are aligned have
expressed unease with their views and have become increasingly frustrated with them in recent times.

Mick Wallace during a visit to the HQ of an Iraqi militia last year.

Last March, when Covid restrictions were still in place, they came in for harsh criticism when they visited a brigade headquarters of the Iraqi militia group Hashed al-Shaabi, with footage later emerging of them viewing a picture gallery wall of ‘martyrs’.

Afterwards, Daly described Hashed al-Shaabi as “people who answered the call of their religious leaders to fight terrorism, many of them sacrifice with their lives”.

However, she went on to say: “They’re actually part of the Iraqi army now, so people in the West and the EU say these are a terrorist organisation, they are not terrorist organisations.”

Wallace said those who condemned the trip, including Irish politicians, were simply “criticising in order to garner some much-needed attention for themselves”.

He suggested that there had been a negative reaction to the trip because “mainstream media in Ireland has long supported US
imperialism”.

In June 2020, the pair were officially sanctioned by the European Parliament for taking part in a “fake” election-monitoring trip to Venezuela and Ecuador.

While the EU denounced the elections in Venezuela, which saw the left-wing Great Patriotic Pole alliance win a super-majority on a 30% turnout, Wallace described the vote as “very transparent and professional”, and suggested the US could learn lessons from the South American state.

Wallace in particular has become well-known for outlandish and unsubstantiated pronunciations in parliament.

He caused fury when he questioned whether a chemical attack on the Syrian city of Doumo in 2018 was carried out by the Assad regime, despite the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirming it as fact.

“The so-called chemical attack which the US, France, and UK used as an excuse to bomb Syria was most likely staged with the help of the White Helmets, a UK-US propaganda entity,” Wallace told the EU parliament.

In 2020, another contribution sparked condemnation when he suggested that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition leader to Alexander Lukashenko’s dictatorship in Belarus, was a “pawn of western neoliberalism”.

Pictured in 2017, Clare Daly & Mick Wallace. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

Later that year, Wallace told the parliament that reports of 1m members of the Uyghur minority being held in detention in China was “just a weapon” being used by the West against China.

He caused rancour within his own left group last year when he tried to water down a motion that condemned Russia for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine, killing 298 people, in 2014.

This has all been part of a campaign to dismiss any European condemnation of Russia and China, as well as what are seen as other authoritarian regimes by both politicians.

Last Sunday, Daly said it was “utter nonsense” to claim she was anti-American and instead she said she was pro-peace.

Wallace and Daly may have been elected as ‘Independents 4 Change’ but now their views have become truly independent of the people who sent them to Europe, questions must now be raised around who they represent.

They certainly are not speaking on behalf of the Irish public, who has made it clear that they are vehemently against the disturbing actions of Russia.

Did you know?

Today marks International Women’s Day. However, when it comes to the Dáil, just 23% of TDs are currently women.

In 2012, the Oireachtas adopted a law obliging political parties to select at least 30% women candidates and 30% men candidates to contest general elections. The threshold rises to 40% from 2023 onwards. If the quota is not met, political parties will lose 50% of the State funding they receive on an annual basis to run their operations.

What to look out for this week

Tuesday

• The Ukrainian conflict will again dominate discussions this week, but there will be statements in the Dáil to mark International Women’s day starting from 3.50pm. There will be gender-related discussions at a number of committees throughout the week and in the Seanad on Wednesday. It will be a late one for Higher Education Minister Simon Harris who is taking questions from TDs from 8.15pm.

Wednesday

• The ongoing and persistent overcrowding crisis in the hospitals will be discussed at the Health Committee with representatives from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) as well as the Siptu and Fórsa unions. The Labour party have a private members’ motion on flexible working due up in the Dáil.The Transport and Communications Committee will examine the ‘Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes’ report with representatives from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and Technological University Dublin.

Thursday

• The Taoiseach is due to travel to Versailles in France for a two-day informal meeting of heads of state. The conflict in Ukraine is likely to be top of the agenda. Given a renewed discussion about our neutrality and whether we should consider joining Nato, questions to Defence Minister Simon Coveney from 9am should be interesting. 
• In the afternoon, the joint committee on foreign affairs and defence will get an update on the crisis in Ukraine from Mr Coveney. A bill, which would require the minister for education to publish regulations of voluntary contributions from parents/guardians will be debated in the evening. Under the bill the total amount collected by schools would be published annually along
  with details of how the funds were spent. 
• Over at the health committee the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019 will be examined with Minister Stephen Donnelly.

Friday

• The Taoiseach will leave France and travel directly to London, where he has a weekend full of engagements, including the rugby!

• 'On The Plinth' appears each week in Tuesday's Irish Examiner (in print and online). Make sure you are up to speed on the major political stories by signing up to the On The Plinth politics newsletter HERE.

 - This article originally stated that an amendment table by MEP Clare Daly on cyberattacks "did not single out any country or state". It also stated that Ms Daly also tabled an amendment to take out specific mention of 'China' in another part of the motion.

Clare Daly and Mick Wallace have asked us to clarify that the original section of the amendment to the motion on cyberattacks did in fact single out specific states, namely China and Russia.

Secondly, the amendment did not "take out specific mention of China", but added language about the United States' extra-territorial application of its national security law in the prosecution and attempted extradition of Julian Assange.

The article has been amended to reflect these changes.