Scully family leave home in wake of controversy
Last Updated Nov 2011
By: TCM Editorial
By Vicki Weller
THE wife and children of former Naas Mayor Darren Scully have had to leave the family home and stay with relatives elsewhere in the country in the wake of the furore which erupted following his remarks on radio in the past week.
Meanwhile, a second complaint has been made to gardaí following Cllr Scully’s controversial comments. It is understood that a woman, who is resident in Co Kildare and is the mother of two children adopted from Africa, made the complaint following Cllr Scully’s controversial comments last Tuesday.
His initial comments had been made on another radio station during the previous evening and a storm of protest followed. Labour TD Aodhán O’Riordáin stated publicly that he had made a complaint to the gardaí under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act.
Cllr Scully has not been out in public locally in the days since his controversial comments and, in a weekend interview given to RTÉ’s Marian Finnucane, he admitted that he had not gone out the door of his home since the controversy broke.
He also stated that his future employment was now in doubt. Having been temporarily suspended from his job, Cllr Scully, who is an engineer by occupation, acknowledged that his livelihood was now “in jeopardy” and he would not find out until later this week “whether I still have a job”.
Although he has now apologised for his remarks stating that he would no longer represent “black African people” Cllr Scully has come in for some sharp criticism and it has even been claimed that death threats have been made in the wake of the comments, although this has not been confirmed by Cllr Scully or his family.
However, it is understood that Cllr Scully’s wife and two young children did leave the family home in Naas in the past week, to spend some time with relatives.
The controversy has also given rise to a heated online debate, with some contributors criticising the former Naas Mayor while others have used the opportunity to engage in clear racist abuse. One online critic suggested that the former mayor’s comments had constituted a “rallying cry” for racism. In his RTÉ interview, however, Cllr Scully stated categorically that he was “not a racist”.
Meanwhile, a representative of Fine Gael’s constituency office in Newbridge said yesterday (Monday) morning that Cllr Scully remained a member of the party and a member of both Naas Town and Kildare Co Councils. A spokesperson for the party’s national headquarters similarly noted that they were unaware of any change in the Naas councillor’s status. The matter is to be referred to a meeting of the Fine Gael national executive to take place on 14 December.
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil’s local representatives in Co Kildare have issued a statement criticising the comments made by Cllr Scully while at the same time appealing for “tolerance” to be shown to Cllr Scully in the wake of his apology. http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/tabId/201/itemId/12806/Scully-family-leave-home-in-wake-of-controversy.aspx
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