Presidential Candidate’s Controversial ‘Traveller’ Comments Sees Him Come Under Serious Hot Water

Following the Claire Byrne Live debate on Monday night, one of the candidates has come under hot water for comments he made about Travellers.

Calls have been made for Presidential Candidate, Peter Casey to step down following comments he made on Independent.ie’s podcast, ‘The Floating Voter’.

Casey told the podcast’s host Kevin Doyle that he normally “says the first thing that comes into my mind” but Doyle would have never expected his comments surrounding Travellers’ status.

Casey said that Travellers should not be seen as an ethnic minority :

“[They are] basically people camping in someone else’s land. They are not paying their fair share of taxes in society.”

He continued by saying that the arrival of Travellers into an area ““devastates the prices of the houses”.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. Your house price doesn’t start going through the roof as soon as you get two dozen Travellers moving in down the street from you.”

His presidential opponent and Dragons Den partner, Gavin Duffy said that his comments had no place in a presidential campaign.

You can listen to the full interview here.

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