Independent MEP Candidate Saoirse McHugh has expressed concern that far-right candidates have “shifted the dial on what people feel comfortable saying”.
The former Green Party member told the Irish Mirror that while immigration is not coming up on the doors, she did have one incident in which she feared an angry man was “going to lunge” at her over the issue.
Ms McHugh is contesting June 7’s European elections in the Midlands-North-West constituency.
During a debate on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon on Monday, she branded MEP candidate and former Dragons Den star Peter Casey a “clown”.
READ MORE: We followed Eamon Ryan on a Galway canvass - and there were some surprising reactions from locals
Mr Casey has been a staunch opponent of the Government’s immigration policy and was recently criticised as his election posters appeared at the International Protection Office in Dublin. This is despite the fact he is not running in the constituency.
She said that anti-immigrant sentiment from some candidates has “really shifted the dial on what people feel comfortable saying”.
She explained: “I would call Niall Boylan far-right. I would call [Ciaran] Mullooly running for a far-right party [Independent Ireland]. He’s presenting quite a nice face to it.
“Peter Casey said he'll probably sit with Identity [in the European Parliament] who are far right.
“Some of the candidates aren't, they’re just right wing.”
She continued: “I think some of them are in it for the publicity, which some people may say about me. But I think the damage they do to the public discourse is probably bigger..
“What is really dangerous about far-right candidates running is big parties like Sinn Féin or Fine Gael being affected by that and moving their own language and maybe trying to chase those votes.”
Amid concerns about candidates’ safety, Ms McHugh said she experienced one particularly aggressive incident while out canvassing.
She explained: “I was leaving a house. I popped a letter into his letterbox because no one had answered. He stuck his head over the wall and launched into ‘I f***ing hate migrants’ and then proceeded into the most obscene, violent [stuff] I've ever heard in my life. Stuff I wouldn't even repeat. Screaming the N-word.
“I thought this man was gonna lunge at me.
“He was so angry. That was quite frightening. But other than that, [immigration] hasn’t been coming up.”
Although she left the Green Party in 2020 following the party’s decision to enter a coalition, Ms McHugh is canvassing on environmental issues.
She is also focused on Ireland’s “food/landscape connection”, the impact of flooding and water quality.
She added: “My main focus would be how we interact with the land which, of course, brings in agriculture.”
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