A Traveller woman has said that Peter Casey is “kidding himself” after he rejected claims his support was bolstered by populist views.
Mr Casey claimed people had voted for him because he spoke for “middle Ireland” who were working and “paying the bills”. The candidate received more than 23 per cent of the vote and was runner-up in the presidential race after Michael D Higgins,
Mr Casey previously made comments that Travellers should not be recognised as an ethnic minority, because they are “basically people camping in someone else’s land” and are “not paying their fair share of taxes in society”.
He had come under increased scrutiny in presidential debates and had some of his comments labelled “populist” and “racist” by other candidates. He was also compared to former Ukip leader Nigel Farage.
Kathleen Lawrence, who works at Traveller outreach programme Pavee Point, said that Mr Casey had used an already disenfranchised community to bolster his lead in the polls.
“The fact that he garnered 20 per cent of votes is disappointing, but it’s not surprising given his comments,” she said. “I think now we need to look at the fact that 20 per cent bought into his message. I think we need to target those people to help them and change the way politics is being done. People are drained, working full time and barely scraping by and that’s awful, but the fact Peter Casey used an ethnic minority to make up the blame, that is disturbing. I think what needs to happen is we need to tap into why people voted for him, we can’t let this pass by.”
Ms Lawrence said protocols were needed that would prevent people like Peter Casey – and any other potential candidate at all levels – from using minorities to further their political agenda.
She added that the feeling in her family was one of fear after Mr Casey said he had received thousands of letters of support after making his views on Travellers known.
“I can’t speak for all Travellers. But among my own family there was a lot of fear around what would happen if he got in,” she said. “We’re already marginalised . . . A good portion of his votes came from his Traveller comments.”
On Saturday, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly Kieran O’Reilly expressed concern over hurt caused by the public discussion during the election campaign.
“In recent weeks I was alarmed by some of the inflammatory language used during the public discourse which formed part of this election campaign,” he said. “Feedback that I have received from members of the Travelling community, and from those dependent on financial assistance from the State in order to survive, has confirmed my concerns.”
He added: “Ill-informed and inflammatory language has caused real hurt . . . It has been particularly damaging to the Traveller community which has been endeavouring to grow and preserve its ethnic identity as part of our society.”
