A TUV councillor likened an Irish TD’s mindset as “strikingly similar” to Russian President Vladimir Putin, after a speech the politician made at the Dail.
It comes after Fianna Fail politician Cathal Crowe said it is a “source of hurt” that Northern Ireland “exists as an entity” during a speech at Leinster House to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
TUV vice chairman councillor Allister Kyle called the remarks “deeply ironic” and compared the “mindset” of Mr Crowe as “strikingly similar to that of President Putin.”
Councillor Kyle went on to criticise the Irish TD’s words as an “attack” on the Republic’s nearest neighbours and displayed “an irony bypass which is hard to fathom.”
The TUV man added: “His remarks should act as a wake-up call to unionists who have bought into the protocol implementing process.
“Far from regarding the Belfast Agreement as a settlement, Mr Crowe described it as ‘only a stepping-stone’ to an all-Ireland.”
The Dail session saw several TDs give statements on the Russia-Ukraine war while in the presence Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland Larysa Gerasko and several members of the Ukrainian community who viewed the session from the public gallery.
While discussing the retention of Ukraine’s borders, Mr Crowe drew comparison to the historical Anglo-Irish Treaty which saw Ireland become a self-governing dominion of the then British empire, while Northern Ireland opted out of the Irish Free State.
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The signing of the agreement formally ended Ireland’s War of Independence, but precipitated the Irish Civil War, which was fought between the provisional government and the anti-treaty IRA.
Speaking in the Dail, Mr Crowe said: “Ireland, as a member of the European Union, needs to stand resolutely with the Ukrainian people so that they get peace but, more importantly, that their territorial boundaries are retained.
“Anyone who studies Irish history – we are all experts on it down here, but maybe our Ukrainian friends do not know Irish history so well – will know that Ireland endured 800 years of invading forces and plantations.
“In 1921, it was believed that in 1922 a deal could be brokered, and it would lead to peace and we could still have territory.
“It does not, because there is still a corner of our country occupied. We had the Good Friday Agreement, but it is only a stepping-stone to unification.
“It is a source of hurt for this country even a century later that Northern Ireland exists as an entity.”
The comments also drew criticisms from DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley who called it “yet another example of deep-seated contempt” for Northern Ireland that is held in some sections of the Irish political sphere.
Mr Buckley called for the Irish TD to respect the principle of consent – which he said is a “fundamental aspect” of the Belfast Agreement.
The Upper Bann MLA said: “His remarks demonstrate a romantic view of Irish unity, one that disregards the reality that Northern Ireland exists as an integral and legitimate part of the United Kingdom, and that the majority viewpoint here is pro-union.
“The principle of consent cannot simply be wished away by rhetoric.”