Ken O'Flynn addresses the Dail to say women in Ireland no longer feel safe and links recent deadly attacks to failures in border policy. Speaking during debate on a bill, he says he will support the legislation but will continue to press for what he calls the truth about crime and immigration.
Summary
Ken O'Flynn opens by declaring that women across Ireland have lost the ordinary freedom to walk home alone, and places responsibility for that loss on government policy. He cites the toll of eight women dead this year and argues that a disproportionate number of identified suspects are foreign nationals.
European comparisons and statistics
O'Flynn refers to international figures, citing Sweden and Spain to argue a pattern across Europe where migrants are overrepresented among certain perpetrators. He says governments opened borders and then lost control, and that citizens are criticised when they raise concerns.
Critique of opponents
He directly challenges other deputies who labelled reporting on suspects as racist, rejecting what he calls narrative-driven responses and arguing the public deserve frank facts about threats to safety. He singles out a recent case of a man wanted for sexual crimes who hid in Cork as evidence of a problem.
Support for the bill and pledge
Despite his criticisms, O'Flynn tells the house he will support the bill under debate. He closes by promising to continue speaking publicly and in parliament to ensure the people are given what he describes as the truth about crime, immigration and safety in Ireland.
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I rise to say what half of this country is thinking and what this house has refused to hear. Women in Ireland do not feel safe. Walking through the capital, walking through Cork City, my own constituency, and walking through the towns and villages where women once thought nothing of walking home alone. That ordinary precious freedom, Minister, has been taken from the Irish woman. And it did not happen by accident, it happened by policy. Eight women dead this year. Of identified suspects, one is Irish. One. That is not an invented figure, Minister, but it is something that will not be silenced for repeating in this house or anywhere else. And it is not only Ireland's shame, it is Europe's. Sweden's own National Council for Crime Prevention reports that people of foreign background are one-fifth of the population, but 43% of homicide perpetrators. In Spain, it is reported that this year alone, half of the women murdered in the Kingdom of Spain were killed by foreign nationals. Across this continent, governments have opened their doors, but they have lost control of their borders. And when their own citizens stand up and take notice, they lecture them, or they call them far right for calling out that government. Minister, we in Europe have brought this upon ourselves, and our women are paying for the ultimate price. The hibernophobic mistress of Missandry, Deputy Coppender, has said it is racist to report the truth about the suspect in the killing of Jamie Carney. She blames mainstream media. She blames the toxic culture of Irish masculinity. She blames phobic this and phobic the other. But it's phobic when the truth, when it does not fit her narrative. And I say to this house that the women of Ireland are not afraid of slogans, they're not afraid of slurs. But Minister, what they are afraid of is a man wanted for raping four children in Britain who hid out for a month in Cork. There is an increasing feeling across this country that Ireland has become a refuge for those fleeing justice and not persecution. That must stop. I say to you Minister, this bill, and the facts on the record, is a good bill and I will support it. But the people are owed the truth and as God is my witness Minister, they will have the truth from me and they will have the truth continuously from my party. I commend this bill to the house and I will be supporting this bill.
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