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Pictured (LtoR) Cllr Louise Minihan of Eirgi, Cllr Cieran Perry, Cllr Damian O Farrell and Cllr Mannix Flynn stand outside the hotel in Dublin today. Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland
Protest
Protest takes place outside hotel over councillor's Traveller comments
The protesters held the event outside the Camden Court Hotel owned by Cllr Sean McEniff’s today.
A PROTEST BY an anti-racist group has taken place outside a hotel owned by a councillor whose comments on Travellers have drawn much criticism.
Donegal Cllr Sean McEniff was criticised after saying to Ocean FM that Travellers should be housed away from settled communities and that they “wreck homes”.
The Fianna Fáil councillor has been a member of Donegal County Council for 45 years. He said at the time that he is not racist or bigoted, and was “speaking facts”.
Today, a number of councillors and members of the group Anti-Facist Action gathered outside the Camden Court Hotel in protest against Cllr McEniff’s comments.
Protest
When contacted by TheJournal.ie, a staff member at the Camden Court Hotel said they had no comment to make on the protest.
Independent Dublin councillor Christy Burke yesterday called on Cllr McEniff to “resign from public life” following his comments. Present at the protest today were a number of councillors and some members of the Travelling community.
Cllr Cieran Perry, an independent member of Dublin City Council, said he feels this issue is not just a matter for Donegal, but for the rest of the country.
He said that the protesters’ issue was not with the hotel or its staff, but their protest was directed at Cllr McEniff himself.
In an interview on Thursday, Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin told TheJournal.ie that comments by Cllr McEniff were not acceptable and he planned to speak to him in the coming days on the issue.
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