Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny branded U.S. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s comments regarding a ban on Muslims entering the US as “unacceptable.”
Speaking in the Dáil (Irish parliament) on Wednesday, Dec 9, Kenny stated that “comments made in the United States are not acceptable to me or to people in this country. Free speech is one thing. The comments made are unacceptable.”
The Taoiseach was speaking in answer to a question from opposition party Fianna Fáil’s leader Mícheál Martin regarding the Government's stance on Trump’s controversial comments.
Martin called on Kenny and the government to stand against the billionaire’s anti-Muslim policy and ensure that he and the Republican party understand “it’s something we wouldn’t tolerate in our democracy.”
This week, Trump caused outrage by stating that there should be a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”
He was referring to the recent shooting in San Bernardino, CA where 14 people were murdered by a US-born man and his Pakistani wife.
Fianna Fáil frontbench legal adviser and candidate for Dublin Bay South, Cllr Jim O’Callaghan also criticized the G.O.P. presidential candidate’s policy stating the government should officially make it clear that Ireland stands in opposition to Trump’s “sectarian rhetoric.”
“The recent comments of Mr Donald Trump, where he effectively condemned an entire religion, are outrageous, dangerous and must be condemned without equivocation,” O’Callaghan said.
“Eyebrows were raised by many at the enthusiasm of our Finance Minister’s praise for Mr Trump when he decided to invest in Doonbeg, County Clare.
“Lest that praise now be misinterpreted by anyone as support for Mr Trump’s views, especially among our own Muslim communities, the Government should move quickly to make clear Ireland’s rejection of this sort of sectarian rhetoric.”
Trump currently owns the 400-acre Doonbeg Lodge and Golf Course in Co.Clare which he bought last year. The billionaire plans to invest millions in the golf course located near Shannon Airport.
Many of Trump's competitors for the Republican nomination have condemned his comments, as have their Democratic counterparts.
The businessman’s comments have also earned criticism from politicians in France and the UK, with a petition calling for Trump to be banned from the UK reaching more than 450,000 signatures by Thursday evening. The petition is expected to be discussed in early January 2016.
Trump has also been dropped as a business ambassador by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and stripped of an honorary degree by Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson even commented, “The only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.”
China, who could hardly call Trump an ally, is one of the only countries to have voiced support for his Muslim ban.
As reported yesterday by IrishCentral, some have questioned Trump’s stance against terrorism given his attendance at a Friends of Sinn Féin Dinner in New York in 2005.
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