Watch: Dáil debate erupts with unparliamentary language from Thomas Pringle TD

Independent TD for Donegal Thomas Pringle was spurred to swearing in the Dáil yesterday in a bid to silence Kerry Deputy Danny Healy-Rae.

Deputy Pringle had branded comments made by Deputy Healy-Rae about asylum seekers as a “disgrace” and asked to be dissociated from them.

Deputy Pringle was interrupted by Deputy Healy-Rae, to which Deputy Pringle replied: “It is obvious you do not ****ing listen to what anybody says because that is not what I said. Next time, open your ears instead of your mouth, you might ****ing understand what people are saying.”

Deputy Healy-Rae was commenting on Ireland’s foreign policy when he brought up reports of over 70 single male asylum seekers arriving in Killarney on Wednesday evening.

When it was Deputy Pringle’s turn to speak, he spoke against the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy, which examined Ireland’s agility and responsiveness to the maintenance of international peace and security.

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Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin announced that the Government is preparing legislation to scrap the ‘Triple Lock’ that prevents Irish troops from deployment without UN approval.

Mr Martin said he has instructed the Department of Defence to prepare legislation removing the requirement for UN approval. He said the move “would make sense to amend our existing legislation in a manner that would allow us to respond to crisis situations with more agility and where, in making these important decisions, we are not surrendering our sovereignty.”

Deputy Pringle said the forum was “not a national discussion; it was a discussion between security experts and therefore those who have an interest in advancing military capabilities in Ireland, despite the opinion of the population.”

He said the government should have held a citizens’ assembly if they wanted a national discussion.

Deputy Pringle commented: “What is happening here is an absolute sham and dressing up to get participation and military responses right across the world; that is what we are seeing here.”