Michael Collins (Schull politician)

Michael Collins (born 15 July 1958) is an Irish Independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork South-West constituency since the 2016 general election.[1]

Michael Collins

TD
Teachta Dála
Assumed office
February 2016
ConstituencyCork South-West
Personal details
Born (1958-07-15) 15 July 1958
Cork, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Political partyIndependent
Alma materCork Institute of Technology

He served as a member of Cork County Council from 2014 to 2016.[2][3]

In September 2019, Collins defended anti-immigrant rhetoric used by fellow TD Noel Grealish,[4] and in doing so claimed Ireland was "losing its culture" because of immigrants and suggested that Ireland should "look after our own people first and then when that issue is sorted, let's start looking at people from across the world".[5] For this, both he and Grealish were criticised in Irish political circles, with Labour leader Brendan Howlin calling the pair "highly dangerous",[6][7][8] while Irish President Michael D. Higgins, while not directly referencing them, publicly rejected their rhetoric, suggesting it was not factual that Immigrants were replacing people in Ireland, and that Immigrants accounted for a high percentage of Ireland's GDP.[9]

References
  1. "Michael Collins". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  2. "Michael Collins". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  3. "Election 2016: Michael Collins". RTÉ News. 27 February 2016.
  4. McQuinn, Cormac (2019-09-17). "TD claims Irish people who are 'hungry in the streets' should be prioritised over immigrants". independent. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  5. "Quotes of the week". independent. 2019-09-21. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  6. McConnell, Daniel (2019-09-17). "Comments about immigrants by Independent TDs branded as 'very dangerous' by Labour leader". irishexaminer.com. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
  7. O'Shea, Joe (18 September 2019). "Cork TD Michael Collins slammed for 'dangerous' comments about immigrants". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  8. McQuinn, Cormac (18 September 2019). "'Our own people' should come first before we help immigrants - TD claims". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  9. Loughlin, Elaine (25 September 2019). "Higgins: Some people have 'abused' facts about asylum seekers coming to Ireland". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
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