Galway County Councillor, Michael Fahy has fallen foul of organisations representing immigrants following his comments that “local Irish people” should be hired ahead of “people from other countries” on the €550m Gort to Tuam motorway.
The Ardrahan councillor, interviewed on Clare FM, said he believes if the construction jobs the motorway project were to go to non-Irish workers, the money would leave the country.
Clare Immigrant Support Centre is urging “caution” following Mr Fahy’s remarks. Director, Orla Ní Éili said the current financial difficulties many are faced with are not exclusive to Irish natives living her.
A spokesperson for the Immigrant Council of Ireland Immigrants, Orla Ní Éili, Clare Immigrant Support Centre, described Mr Fahy’s comments as “offensive and unacceptable” and called on him to withdraw them.
Councillor Fahy has called on all the companies involved to ensure local Irish people are hired and not people from other countries.
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A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.