Miriam Lord: Glacial Varadkar gives scathing response to Harkin’s male migrants comments

“Now. Let. Me. Be. Crystal. Clear.”

Marian Harkin carefully enunciated each word for the Taoiseach in case he was a bit slow on the uptake again.

She had tried to talk to him about immigration last year but said she didn’t get anywhere.

Minutes later, Leo was scathing in his denunciation of her effort ‘to conflate crime, and violence against women in particular, with migration’

This time Marian focused specifically on the issue of single males.

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She hopes Leo Varadkar and his Government won’t ignore “the national conversation” around large groups of male asylum seekers arriving in communities leading to fears among women that some of these men might attack them.

And to be absolutely, absolutely diamond crystal clear, lest some people misconstrue what she was saying, the Sligo TD told the Dail: “There is no evidence, zero evidence — none, none, none — that they pose any greater threat than 80 Irish men.”

Marian emphasised this three times to the Taoiseach. It didn’t work.

Minutes later, Leo was scathing in his denunciation of her effort “to conflate crime, and violence against women in particular, with migration”, declaring it “profoundly wrong and profoundly dangerous”.

He wasn’t swayed by the line that women tell her they would be just as worried if the same amount of Irish men pitched up in similar circumstances: “Arriving in their town or village, living three or four to a room, no family connections, nothing to do most of the time.”

Except they don’t.

So clearly, this fear has nothing to do with where these migrants are coming from, it’s just that they are men.

As the Deputy was at pains to point out, there is no evidence of any greater threat from groups of male asylum seekers — zero evidence.

None, none, none!

But, but, but …

And speaking of crimes against women and why they might be frightened of men, she highlighted the ‘horrific murder’ of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy

Marian wondered why it is that people welcome families but refuse to accept groups of single men. The easy “knee-jerk” reaction is to condemn this response as unacceptably racist and influenced by far-right thugs. “I am asking for a little bit of reflection.”

And speaking of crimes against women and why they might be frightened of men, she highlighted the “horrific murder” of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy and how this heinous event sparked a visceral outpouring from Irish women explaining how, through lived experience, they remain ever-attuned to the possibility of male violence against them.

Marian didn’t mention that Ashling was killed by a migrant. She didn’t have to. But then, she didn’t have to mention her in the first place.

But for all that, she is right — women are frightened.

Marian quoted from speeches by female deputies in the Dáil in the aftermath of the murder which shocked the nation.

Here’s Fianna Fáil’s Mary Butler: “Not all men, but all women know the feeling that creeps up your back when you hear steps behind you and you have to check.”

And Fine Gael’s Jennifer Carroll MacNeill: “By simply existing, women’s lives are at risk from men whom they know and men whom they do not know.”

No mention of anybody’s residency status. In fact, foreigners didn’t get much of a look in during all those deeply personal, moving, angry and thought-provoking contributions from Marian’s fellow women TDs.

But we know now that Ashling was killed by a man from Slovakia.

“We believed women two years ago when they made these statements about Irish men,” said the Sligo TD. “Why do we not at least entertain those statements from women now” voicing concerns about “30, 40, 50 whatever” migrant men arriving in their area.

Those passionate statements from two years ago didn’t specify nationality. And if the women were believed back then (depressingly and inevitably, not by everyone), what action followed? None.

What should be done now?

There was a decidedly cool reaction to her contribution from some, but not all TDs in the sparsely populated chamber

Deputy Harkin accepts “there is racism involved” in some of the talk about male migrants but she says there is another narrative and the Taoiseach needs to “listen, engage and believe … Have the debate — warts and all”.

And then what?

There was a decidedly cool reaction to her contribution from some, but not all TDs in the sparsely populated chamber.

Leo Varadkar’s response was positively glacial. “I have to say, I have to be honest with you, I’m quite disappointed in the question you asked and I can see the faces of many people around this House who, I think, agree with me.”

He recalled the outpouring of grief when Ashling Murphy was killed and how her death touched the nation. And he remembered her anniversary only a few weeks ago.

Linking her death with the need for a debate about migrants when her killer came from a EU state and was in the country for 10 years “is really wrong, deputy, like, really deputy, don’t bring our country down into that spiral. Please. Don’t.”

He was disgusted.

But Marian was equally disappointed in him. This conversation is happening all over Ireland whether he wants to talk about it or not and it is dividing people. “The last public meeting that I attended — there were vile slurs spoken against migrants and I was the only public rep who called them out. And let me tell you, Taoiseach, there were members of your own party at that meeting who shut their mouths. But I didn’t, because I won’t listen to it.”

She accused the Taoiseach of failing to listen to the real concerns of women about their safety around male migrants, even if she says there is zero evidence of any greater threat than normal.

He certainly didn’t want to listen to her talking about all those Fine Gael politicians nodding along at local meetings, well down that dangerous spiral already. Because he knows that in this instance, she speaks the truth.

After their exchanges, there was praise around Leinster House for the way he called out Deputy Harkin’s extremely questionable reference to Ashling Murphy and his refusal to countenance any attempts to connect migrants with violence against women. But that was in the Dáil.

Harkin angrily rejected the charge of conflating migrants with crime, claiming Varadkar is not engaging with the migration issues people are actually talking about

Tackling his own reps who say nothing, or one thing, in Dublin but something totally different at meetings down home is a different question. Are they interested in countering the misinformation?

Harkin angrily rejected the charge of conflating migrants with crime, claiming Varadkar is not engaging with the migration issues people are actually talking about.

He rejected that charge. “I have engaged in this debate. I probably engage in it every other day in my constituency, in this House and in the media”.

But he can’t fight the lies on his own. “I need a bit of help. I need a bit of help from people in this House …”

“I’m trying to give it to you” interjected Marian.

The Taoiseach sighed wearily. “Aaaw, you’re not.”

Voice trailing off, he shook his head in frustration and sat down.