Election 2024

Michael O’Leary doubles down on teacher comments after ‘pile on’, saying he was making ‘serious’ point

Ryanair chief executive says there aren’t enough TDs from private sector

Michael O’Leary criticised Catherine Martin and Roderic O'Gorman. Photograph: Collins Photos
Michael O’Leary criticised Catherine Martin and Roderic O'Gorman. Photograph: Collins Photos
Conor Pope
Mon Nov 11 2024 - 10:00

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary has doubled down on controversial comments he made about teachers serving as TDs and suggested a resulting “pile on” from “unions, Sinn Féin and all the left wing tree-huggers” means he “must have said something right.”

He also repeated his claim that there are “too many” of them in the Dáil.

Remarks he made at the launch of Fine Gael Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke’s campaign for re-election in Mullingar, where the two men live prompted criticism after they emerged over the weekend.

At the launch, he said that “in Peter we have a candidate who comes from the private sector which is absolutely vital. The Dáil is full of teachers. There is nothing wrong with teachers. I love teachers – I have four children – but I wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done.”

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His comments, which were recorded and posted on social media channels, prompted laughter from among those gathered at the event and subsequently outrage across the political spectrum and beyond.

They were condemned by the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael Simon Harris and the Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who began his career as a teacher.

Mr Martin said the comments were “insulting” and failed “to reflect the enormous contribution” teachers have made to Irish society and enterprise.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the comments were “completely inappropriate” and added that for teachers to be “jeered and demeaned” in the way they were was “unacceptable”.

Speaking on Newstalk on this morning an unapologetic Mr O’Leary repeated his view that there are “too many teachers in the Dáil”.

He said that he was making a “serious” point about the need for more diversity and said there was a need for more business owners to become TDs.

“This country is facing enormous challenges over the next decade, where the population is going to rise from five to six million people,” he said.

He said “we need lots of teachers delivering excellent education in the classroom” but “a striking surplus of teachers in the Dáil is not necessarily one that’s going to get things done.

“I want to see more people enter the Dáil from private enterprise, from the private sector, and that’s the energy we need if we’re going to fix the infrastructure challenges we face, and if we’re going to provide housing and infrastructure for a population of six million people.

“I think teachers do a great job in the classroom, but I’m not sure that teachers in the Dáil are necessarily the best people to deliver the kind of change and enterprise we need.”

He pointed to Green Party ministers Catherine Martin and Roderic O’Gorman as two former teachers “who have clearly failed” in their roles.

“I’ll give you the example of Catherine Martin, for example, who’s the Minister for Tourism. She’s been Minister for Tourism for five years, and what has she delivered? A [passenger] cap at Dublin Airport.

“I think Catherine Martin will be far better off back in the classroom doing the valuable work that teachers do and as far away from the reins of Government or making decisions, where I think she’s clearly failed.”

He said that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil had done “a great job” in Government, while their Coalition party colleagues the Green Party needed to be “weeded out” and the main opposition party Sinn Féin should be “ignored”.

Asked about Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who was a former teacher, he said “there is an exception to every rule”.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor