Campaign founder denies racism

The founder of the Immigration Control Platform, Ms Aine Ni Chonail, said last night she had been surprised at the media reaction…

The founder of the Immigration Control Platform, Ms Aine Ni Chonail, said last night she had been surprised at the media reaction to her organisation and especially the interest shown by foreign media.

Ms Ni Chonail, who appeared on the Late Late Show last night, denied she was a racist where, she said, that term meant one race was superior to another, but she hadn't been upset by the term racist being directed at her: "Names roll off me but I don't like words being used as weapons because it means they are not saying anything."

After her interview by Gay Byrne and the studio discussion which followed RTE reported that its switchboard was inundated with calls, most of which supported Ms Ni Chonail's views.

The producer of last night's edition of the Late Late Show, Mr Ferdia MacAnna, said she had been invited as an exercise in free speech." Once Ms Ni Chonail had become a major story people would expect the Late Late Show would deal with it."

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Earlier, Anti Fascist Action (AFA), the group which disrupted the launching of the Immigration Control Platform in Ennis, Co Clare, last Tuesday, picketed the RTE studios at Montrose to protest at her appearance on the Late Late Show.

A spokesman for AFA, Mr Brian O'Reilly, said the group would follow Ms Ni Chonail wherever she appeared in her campaign to ensure that everyone understood there was opposition to her views