Fianna Fáil deputy leader Jack Chambers has said Bertie Ahern’s comments on immigration are “totally wrong and inappropriate”.
Speaking on Thursday, Chambers said Ireland is the country it is today “because of the diversity of the people who’ve come here”.
The Dublin West TD said Ahern “certainly wasn’t reflecting my party’s value of people who’ve come to Ireland, and the contribution they make across our public service and across our economy”.
Footage surfaced of Ahern speaking to a woman about immigration during a byelection canvass last week.
During the video, which was made without Ahern’s knowledge, the woman raised concerns about immigration and sharia law, with the former taoiseach saying he believed there were too many migrants coming into the country.
He said the “ones I worry about are the Africans”, adding “we can’t be taking in people from the Congo and all these places. I think there’s too many from those places.”
He also said he was concerned about second-generation Muslims born to people who came into the country, and that he had communicated this to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan.
Ahern said on Wednesday he had “no problem” with people from Africa or “the Congo” but that he felt the immigration system should move more quickly. Taoiseach Micheál Martin sought to distance Fianna Fáil from Ahern’s comments, saying it was not appropriate to be specific about any ethnicity.
On Thursday, Fianna Fáil MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú called on the former taoiseach to issue an apology for the comments.
“Words matter and it is important that his words are clarified,” Ní Mhurchú told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland. She had been “surprised and saddened” by the comments.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said Ahern “should reflect further” on his comments but stopped short of calling for him to apologise.
The Tánaiste was responding in the Dáil to Labour leader Ivana Bacik who described Ahern’s comments as not just “offensive and irresponsible” but “dangerous and inflammatory”.
She asked if the Tánaiste would “call him out” and ask him to apologise.
Bacik said “it was “profoundly wrong to use language which could direct public anger towards migrants and minorities”.
She added in the Galway West byelection “a torrent of despicable online abuse has been directed at our Labour candidate Cllr Helen Ogbu”. She called on Facebook owner Meta “to take responsibility for the hate speech they are facilitating.”
She said “former taoiseach Ahern remains a member of the Council of State. He’s more than just a private person making ignorant remarks on the door.”
She added it was ironic that “Bertie Ahern has the temerity to fuel rhetoric that blames immigrants for systemic problems in Ireland.
“The man whose policy brought about the worst financial crash in the history of the State. And since that, crash migrants have played a pivotal role in rebuilding our economy.”
Harris said the comments “weren’t appropriate, they were wrong”. He said it was essential to have “sensible and rational discussions around migration policy”.
But “it’s never acceptable” to “demonise or stigmatise” an entire group of people based on their race, ethnicity or religion”.
The Tánaiste added the comments caused significant hurt. “I’m quite sure he wouldn’t have intended that harm and therefore I think he should reflect further.”
Independent Dublin city councillor Nial Ring described the incident as “gotcha politics at the lowest level” and “a storm in a teacup”.
EU commissioner Michael McGrath said he did not believe Ahern was racist, but he clearly should not have said what he did during a byelection canvass in Dublin.
Speaking on Newstalk’s Claire Byrne show, the former Fianna Fáil minister for finance said it was important for everyone to uphold the fundamental rights of non-discrimination and the integrity of every human being.
“I think it’s important that all of us do our best every day to uphold those values, because it’s when we start speaking about an entire group of people based on race or colour or ethnicity, it’s a very slippery slope and I think we have to avoid language that is divisive, that can be interpreted a certain way, even if that’s not the intention.
“I don’t believe for a moment that Bertie Ahern is racist. I just don’t believe that. I’ve known him a long time, but he clearly shouldn’t have said what he said. Whether he actually believed it, I don’t know.”
When asked if he thought Ahern should apologise, McGrath said it was not for him to call on somebody to apologise for what they have said.
Ahern’s comments were widely criticised by migrant groups and Muslim leaders.
The Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland condemned the remarks as “vile, reckless and deeply divisive”, saying they were “shocking, discriminatory and entirely unacceptable”.