Islam versus Europe

20111122darrenscully by user7629274

DARREN SCULLY’S life fell apart this week. When we meet on Thursday night, he hasn’t been outside his Naas home in three days. Even behind his front door there is no respite. The constantly ringing phones jar the nerves. The e-mails and text messages flooding his inbox carry their own verbal grenades. The radio phone-ins run amok with the guaranteed firestorm of racial bait. The newspapers littering the kitchen table tell his story in headlines. “ ‘Racist’ Mayor,” reads one on a front page.

Scully shudders and says imploringly, “I am not that person . . . Please believe that. I am not a racist.” His problem is the words from his own mouth in not one but two radio interviews – on 4FM and KFM – within 10 hours of each other on Monday and Tuesday. He stated that he was no longer willing to take representations from “black Africans” living in his constituency because of his experiences of “bad manners”, “aggressive” behaviour and a willingness to “play the race card”.

Two days on, the 38-year-old quantity surveyor and Fine Gael town and county councillor has the appearance of a thoroughly chastened man. He has resigned as mayor of Naas, on the basis that, as first citizen, his position was “untenable”, although he is determined to remain on both councils.

“I’ve taken the decision that only those people who voted for me can decide whether I am worthy to serve as a councillor at the next election,” he says.

Meanwhile, his apologies, “total” and “unreserved”, are repeated unceasingly and his statements are “totally retracted”.

“I have made a huge mistake,” he says. “I want to apologise profusely and say it was wrong. I am a human being. Human beings sometimes do things and say things that are wrong, and I hope that all of the people who live in this country can look into their hearts and find it in them to forgive me and give me a second chance.”

He describes himself as “on the edge”, and there is no doubt that he is. Pausing for long moments, choking on words, eyes brimming, he says, “This, for me, has been the worst week of my life, the worst week of my family’s life. At stages I have been retching because . . . because I have put my family’s safety in jeopardy, I have put my career in jeopardy, I have put my livelihood in jeopardy. I have said things that have greatly offended people, which is something that I will never do again . . . because it is not me.”

He continues, haltingly, tears trickling down his face. “I have been accused of being a racist, a fascist and a Nazi – and I am none of those things. I am an honest, hardworking, decent man who has so much love to give to so many people, and it has been a desperate time for me personally . . . And it’s only the strength of my friends and my family that has kept me going, and messages from people all over the country who mightn’t share my views but who said that I have courage and that tomorrow could be a better day.”

A couple of messages, he says, have gone beyond verbal criticism. “They have said some very, very nasty things. One message said, ‘Watch yourself on the street.’ ”

He is under threat in other ways. His livelihood is on the line.

Formal complaints about his remarks have been made to the Garda, which is investigating “whether an offence” has taken place. His future in Fine Gael is up for discussion at the December 14th meeting of the party’s national executive. He accepts that this could mean expulsion. And while his family and friends remain loyal, they too are bewildered and asking hard questions.

While there might be a temptation to take comfort from the fact that about 80 per cent of more than 1,200 messages sent to him have been supportive, he resists it. The obviously sincere, wounded words of some of the critical messages have affected him.

Source: Irish Times

Before he had been broken, he made these statements in an email:

As a public representative I have taken a decision some years back to no longer deal with representations from immigrants coming from african countries, the majority of them I found to be very demanding and very quick to play the race card if you dis agreed with their point of view, and one Nigerian lady threatened me to go to the papers accusing me of been a racisit if I did not secure her a Council house.

…it pains me to see people born and rared in my town unable to get a council house who are well entitled to it but no houses are currently available and there are many africans now housed because the system states that larger families get jumped up the list.

I have found many africans are well versed on their entitlements are currently on most days in the Council building you see a steady stream of them coming in looking for housing or grants or whatever is going. a few years back when we opened a new council estate in sallins and were handing out the keys, a lady from sierra leone started to complain to me that the house was not big enough for her and her family and could we knock some walls internally to create more room, a council colleauge quickly asked her how big was her house in sierra leone, she lived in a hut…. the mind boggles.

The law badly needs to be changed and it is something I have been raising with the present government and will continue to do so, but as usual in this country the PC brigade will be out in force been vocal and accusing me of been a racist and anyone else who dares raise the subject, the reason why I only am addressing africans here is because under EU law if you are from an EU country you are entitled to benefits as we are in other EU countries, but Irish citizens will get feck all in African countries.

Source: thejournal.ie