Independent Ireland TD appears before SIPO over 2021 Red FM interview
Independent Ireland TD Ken O'Flynn has appeared before the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) following comments he made on local radio during a discussion of the Spring Lane, Ellis's Yard halting site at Ballyvolane, Co Cork.
His barrister, Brian Leahy, sought to have the investigation by the ethics watchdog ended, citing a number of grounds including freedom of expression and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr O'Flynn did not intend to offend or hurt anybody and regrets if anybody was hurt, Mr Leahy said, noting that his client is a "married gay man".
Following the preliminary hearing, SIPO will deliberate and decide whether or not a full investigation into Mr O'Flynn's conduct will proceed.
Conor Feeney, BL, legal representative for SIPO, said that the commission "is empowered" to reconsider its decision to investigate the matter, which relates to alleged breaches of the Local Government Act (2001) and the Standards in Public Office Act (2001) when Mr Flynn was a councillor.
Mr O'Flynn was elected to the Dáil in Cork North-Central at the last general election.
Mr Feeney said that during an interview on 16 June, 2021 with Red FM, Mr O'Flynn is said to have made "inaccurate and misleading" statements which are "indicative of a biased view of members of the Travellers community".
On his Facebook account, Mr O'Flynn is also said to have published statements demonstrating a biased view of members of the Travellers community, Mr Feeney said.
He also allegedly failed to monitor and remove remarks of an "inflammatory and derogatory nature" and endorsed other comments using the "like" feature, Mr Feeney added.
These alleged breaches "collectively amount to a specificed act" under Section 4 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001, Mr Feeney said.
Representing Mr O'Flynn, Brain Leahy BL said that the preliminary application to have the matter dismissed was brought on a number of grounds.
These include an alleged discrepancy between the transcript and audio recording of the Red FM interview, where remarks attributed to Mr O Flynn - Mr Leahy said - were not in fact made by Mr O'Flynn.
SIPO will listen to the full recording of the interview during its deliberations, Mr Feeney noted.
Mr Leahy also said that the interview was not an official duty, and Mr O'Flynn was not carrying out functions as a member of local authority when conducting it.
"He wasn't instructed by the mayor to go onto Red FM," Mr Leahy said, but answering questions from SIPO members later acknowledged that differentiating between official and unofficial functions is "nuanced".
Mr Leahy said that the "cherry-picking of his social media posts" is "not a fair reflection of [Mr O'Flynn's] attitude to the Traveller community".
It is "merely a sample" of those comments.
Deputy O'Flynn has had "half a million interactions" on Facebook since setting up his political account, his lawyer said.
Mr Leahy also said that Mr O'Flynn is protected under freedom of expression, and the European Convention on Human Rights.
While "not a free speech absolutist", Mr Leahy warned against a situation where "we are constantly looking over our shoulders" and afraid to make certain comments.
He acknowledged the possibility of "stepping on peoples' toes".
He said Mr O'Flynn understands the difficulty of people being insulted, but "this is the joys of living in the modern world of social media".
"He doesn't want to offend anybody for the sake of offence," Mr Leahy added.
"He doesn't believe that he has been offensive," but wants to solve problems, the lawyer said.
The Red FM discussion was "an interview about housing and housing problems".
But if Mr O'Flynn has been offensive, "he didn't mean it," Mr Leahy said.
Mr Leahy said that he intends to seek costs if he is successful in today's application.
He also told the commission that he "had to use UK law to deal with this", as "there doesn't seem to be anything" from the courts "on this question yet in this jurisdiction".
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