Reader's Blog: Casey: It’s a question of honour
So what happens when a 61-year-old, Irish-born, non-Irish tax-paying business Dragon — who thinks Travellers deserve a place in Phoenix Park — runs for president?
He comes in second, on eight weeks’ notice.
This. Is. Ireland.
Peter Casey — fresh from his Late Late encounter with Tubs — hints towards other goals. Mainly, a Fianna Fáil leadership push? Or perhaps, at the very least, any push at all against Varadkar’s Fine Gael, apparently.
In light of recent events, it is safe to say, stranger things have come to fruition.
Casey discussed free education, a halt to pay cuts in the health and social sectors, and even hinted at subsidised housing for first time home buyers — a plan in which he would attempt to echo the first time buyer post-war housing boom of the 1940s and 50s by the US economy.
And where will this money come from? Well one area clearly stated by Casey as a target for cuts, is that of the Irish Air Corps. Casey suggested the decommission of what he sees as obsolete and unutilised Irish military aircrafts, and wants them replaced with multipurpose military helicopters that could act to aid the gardaí and Irish residents at times when rapid response emergency transportation is required.
If the Late Late Show appearance could be summed up in two words, the words might be “Travellers”, and “taxes”. The latter still to be addressed — as indicated by Casey’s somewhat haughty deflection amid the questioning sniggers of the crowd.
The comments made by Casey in relation to the Irish Travelling community have been completely sensationalised, and in turn, prompted unfounded and misdirected outrage… chants of “discrimination”, echoed by Tubs’ righteous grilling under the guise of “asking on behalf of the people”. Casey’s response? Inclusion. Pretty simple.
Although the Late Late appearance was one of very few of Casey’s public appearances that I tuned into (as there are so few), I did not hear him speak with the vitriol that the Traveller community so claimed.
Casey never said all Travellers need, nor want, to go to Phoenix Park. He said “if they wanted” a specific place to go, and to benefit from targeted supports for their ethnic community in the heart of the capital, that it seems a potentially viable option.
So what might a party under Casey look like?
Helicopters providing support to emergency response teams, subsidies for first time home buyers, free education, and more inclusivity — for all, all sexes, all ethnicities, and all creeds.
Although claimed by some, I don’t think Casey is masking some hidden prejudice-laden agenda. The question is, however, whether Casey, is, or is not, an honourable gentleman.
