Peter Casey accused of 'stoking division' with election posters ...
A Labour councillor in Dublin has accused European elections candidate Peter Casey of engaging in “dog whistle-type politics” after Mr Casey attached election posters to barriers outside the International Protection Office (IPO).
The businessman is currently running in the upcoming European Elections in June as an Independent candidate for the Midlands-North West Constituency.
In posts on social media, Mr Casey is seen outside the IPO, where large election posters have been put up on the barriers at the front of the building.
The office on Mount Street has been the focus of much attention in recent weeks, after a ‘tent city’ developed around the office with those seeking refuge in Ireland.
Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said he was “repulsed” by the posters.
“It is the cynicism of placing those posters at the door of the IPO, with all the attention on asylum seekers,” Cllr Lacey said.
“It’s just not what politics should be about. I was genuinely shocked and really, really disappointed.”
Labour councillor and former Dublin lord mayor, Dermot Lacey. Photo: Caroline Quinn
Mr Lacey said the erection of the posters in a constituency that Mr Casey was not running in was “opportunistic”.
“It’s stoking up of division. I accept the whole issue of asylum seekers is a difficult one, and is a new one for Ireland,” he said.
“We're experiencing this in like two or three years, something that maybe would have been over a prolonged period in other countries, but we won't resolve it by that sort of opportunism.”
The Labour councillor also accused the businessman of engaging in “dog whistle politics”.
“Why would somebody come down to put those posters on the IPO site if they weren't just engaging in that sort of dog whistle type politics, it’s just so wrong,” he said.
“Politics should be about developing issues and sorting out things, not stoking up division or fear.”
Mr Lacey also said it was the responsibility of Mr Casey to remove the posters and not that of Dublin City Council.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Casey dismissed the Labour councillor’s comments and said he didn’t pay attention to Mr Lacey and that it was an “attempt to gain media coverage”.
When asked if he was attempting to “stoke up division” and was engaging in “dog whistle politics”, Mr Casey said “of course not”.
“There is no division. The majority of people in Ireland do feel that we have to support Ukrainian refugees and we support genuine asylum seekers, we just do not support illegal ones,” he said.
In a post on X, Mr Casey said he was “stunned” that the posters were still in place 24 hours after they had been erected. However, Mr Casey said it was a flippant comment and he didn’t know who would take them down.
The European candidate said he chose to put posters in Dublin, outside his constituency, because many of the constituents worked in Dublin and that he believed the IPO should be closed down.
“A large number of my future constituents work in Dublin. They can’t afford to live in Dublin,” Mr Casey said.
“Rents are so expensive that they have to do a one and a half hour commute a lot of them from Dundalk or Drogheda. It’s crazy, the commutes that people are having to do. So I thought it would draw attention to that.”
Mr Casey said the posters at the IPO would stay in place for the duration of the election and that he would remove them once the election was over.
The businessman and former RTÉ Dragons’ Den panellist created a storm of controversy during his run for the Presidency in 2018 with comments he made about Travellers, leading to calls for him to pull out of the race.
Last May, a building in Co Donegal that he intended to use to house Ukrainian refugees was badly damaged in an arson attack.
Dublin City Council has been contacted for comment.
