A Galway voter took the Taoiseach to task over the water charges issue last Friday and was met with this fairly patronising response.
Kenny was on the campaign trail in Galway last Friday and was met by a number of protesters in Eyre Square who were keen to vent their feelings about the incoming water charges.
One of the protesters, Dette McLoughlin, a campaign manager for the People Before Profit Alliance, engaged directly with the Taoiseach, who seemed thrown by the fact that she had a touch of an English accent and tried to put on the charm when saying: “You’re not from Galway at all.”
It was a line that backfired completely as McLoughlin, who according to The Galway Advertiser has lived and worked in Galway for over 20 years having been born in Manchester to Irish parents, responded that she was indeed from Galway, a response that seemed to embarrass Kenny.
McLoughlin, to her credit, didn’t seem too offended but another protester in the vicinity was keen to point out that Irish people with different accents are becoming more commonplace because of emigration from this country.
Speaking to the Galway Advertiser (who uploaded the video on YouTube yesterday), McLoughlin said that Kenny had asked her where she came from early in his exchange with the PBPA protesters and returned to this subject again later on.
“I elaborated as to which suburb of the city I live in,” McLoughlin said.
“The Taoiseach then turned to establishing my ‘origins’, asking did I come from the area – as in, born and raised here.”
She added that while the “Taoiseach’s behaviour was not bordering on racism”, she was “taken aback by this outrageous line of questioning”.
The conversation did seem to end on a more amicable note, but it certainly isn’t the greatest PR for Kenny and hardly the best timing either.
What did you think of the exchange? Feel free to let us know in the comment box below, but please, keep it clean people.
Video via YouTube/Galway Advertiser
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