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Gary Murphy

👤 Speaker
51 total appearances

Appearances Over Time

Podcast Appearances

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

I think a little bit of both, Danny.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

It's important because Berthier Hearn is a former Taoiseach.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Taoiseach for close to 11 years, between 1997 and 2008.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

So any time former Taoiseach make interjections in public debates is probably noteworthy in itself.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

And to the opposite point, I mean, Berthier Hearn is very much yesterday's man in Fianna Fáil, as I think the Taoiseach made clear today when he said Berthier Hearn didn't speak for Fianna Fáil.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Remember, Berthier Hearn hasn't

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Stood for an election since 2007.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

And Fianna Fáil haven't had a TD in Dublin Central since he resigned.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

His brother ran

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

In the 2009 by-election, Maurice Ahern came, I think, fifth, getting a very poor vote.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Dublin Centre has been a bit of a wasteland for Fianna Fáil since.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

So in that context, you can see why Micheál Martin probably didn't want Berkeley Ahern running as the Fianna Fáil candidate for president, although it didn't work out with Jim Gavin either.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

And I suspect that this will probably dissipate over the next few days.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

But it does go to the idea of whether politicians are speaking straight up when they're talking to people on the doors or whether they're sort of.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Speaking slightly, Jane is faced, as I think Bertie O'Hearn himself rather admitted today, as Louise has just told us when he clarified his remarks.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

Yeah, I mean, I was a bit surprised given how experienced Bertie Ahern is that he sort of...

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

I fell into whether it was a trap might be a bit too much to say, but like,

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

he could simply have said that there was a problem with illegal immigration and that legal immigration is appropriate, which is kind of what he, I think, tried to say, but he kind of mucked it up.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

But it's made it very difficult, I think, for John Stevens, because the constituency is as one, you just kind of divide a constituency between those who have strong sort of anti-immigrant views and those who might have an opposing viewpoint.

The Last Word with Matt Cooper
Bertie Ahern Backtracks On Immigration Comments

And this comes, of course, in the wake of

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