Public ethics watchdog to investigate comments made by Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn
INDEPENDENT IRELAND TD Ken O'Flynn is facing an ethics investigation over comments he made during a 2021 radio interview about a Traveller halting site in Cork.
The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) confirmed this week that it will examine whether remarks that O'Flynn made while serving as a Cork City councillor broke rules set out in the Local Government Act or the councillors' Code of Conduct.
The interview, which aired on Cork's RedFM four years ago, focused on the Spring Lane halting site in Ballyvolane.
A complaint was later lodged about O'Flynn's comments during the interview, and SIPO is now preparing to hold a preliminary hearing with his legal team on Monday.
O'Flynn, who was elected to the Dáil in 2020 and joined Independent Ireland in 2024, has rejected the allegations.
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Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Colm Ó Mongáin show, he said: 'I stand over everything I've said.'
He added that part of the complaint concerns his social media activity.
'I think I had about half a million engagements on Facebook, and I think there's only six that the complaint is about,' O'Flynn said.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) previously criticised the 2021 radio segment, saying it lacked balance and had the effect of stigmatising residents of the halting site.
However, an earlier complaint to Cork City Council's ethics registrar was dismissed.
O'Flynn was also one of only three councillors to vote against an €18 million Traveller accommodation upgrade for the Spring Lane site in 2024.
The outcome of the SIPO hearing will determine whether a full investigation into his conduct will follow.
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