Soc Dem Leader’s gaslighting on immigrant crime rates not based in reality because Govt refuse to publish data -Ken O’Flynn TD

Soc Dem Leader’s gaslighting on immigrant crime rates not based in reality because Govt refuse to publish data -Ken O’Flynn

"I call on the Soc Dems Leader to show us the facts and the stats that prove her claims on a per capita basis. Deputy Cairns cannot and will not do that because the Government refuse to publish the data. I find it astounding the level of anti Irish rhetoric that comes from the Soc Dems and the other hard left parties "

Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn has said the Social Democrat Party would do well to book themselves in for an immediate crash course in basic statistical theory following controversial remarks by its leader Holly Cairns, on the Late Late Show on Friday evening.

During questioning on immigration related issues, Mrs Cairns stated that "there is more crime amongst Irish people than there is amongst our immigrant community."

Her comments were widely criticised across social media platforms, with many observers pointing out that the Social Democrat leader appeared to lack even a rudimentary grasp of how the per capita rule is applied when dealing with crime rate statistics.

The Cork North-Central TD added, “Of course there is going to be a higher proportion of crimes committed by Irish nationals, for the very obvious reason that Irish nationals continue to account, for now at least, for the majority of people in this state. The question we need to be asking however and for which we must have greater levels of statistical clarity, is the number of crimes committed on a per capita basis within each sub-group of our immigrant communities and as a percentage of the entire population.”

“The recent annual report from the Prison Service clearly indicates that 24.7% of those committed to prison in 2024 were non-Irish nationals.”

“Even speaking anecdotally, we can say that non-nationals appear to be over-represented in appearances before the courts, as anyone who has sat in the criminal courts on a regular basis could easily attest if they were not muted by ideological considerations.”

“I have routinely called on government to publish data on the nationality and ethnic status of criminal offenders who are resident in Ireland or seeking leave to remain under the international protection system. There is no justifiable reason to continue making such data publicly inaccessible.”

“If we want maximum transparency; if we want an evidence-based debate on the status or ethnicity of criminal offenders then we must introduce far more robust statistical methodologies than the ones currently in place.”

O’Flynn also argued that published crime figures from Nordic countries, including Sweden and Denmark, have already influenced policy changes relating to immigration and asylum and that Ireland must now follow suit.

He concluded by remarking that, “the problem with the Soc Dems and the rest of the blinkered left in the Dáil is not just that they are indifferent, but that they are actively hostile to any evidence, no matter how glaring that may be, which contradicts their utopian views on immigration and the challenges that come with it. For them, everyone who comes to these shores is like an angel that fell from heaven, incapable of doing any wrong. And any wrong they may commit is always somehow our fault for failing them. That kind of gaslighting won’t wash with the Irish people.”