An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin

I condemn the violence perpetrated on Stephen Ogilvie in Belfast in recent days, when he was almost decapitated by an alleged perpetrator who is now before the courts. I also condemn the murders of 23 Catholics and Protestants who similarly had their throats cut, were attacked by axes, mutilated, tortured and in some cases subsequently shot by people such as Lenny Murphy and John Murphy. Do I suspect every loyalist or member of the unionist community of being so violent? No, I do not. Most of them are fine, decent and upstanding people. I also condemn the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, a child who was dismembered, decapitated and mutilated, and parts of his body were disposed around the city. The alleged perpetrator in that case, who has been shot dead, was from Dublin like myself. Do I suspect every Dublin person of being likely to carry out savage and brutal acts of violence? No, I do not. In relation to the alleged perpetrator in the attack on Stephen Ogilvie, do I suspect every Sudanese person or every Somali citizen of such violence? No, I do not. In fact, they come to my home daily and weekly to attend to the intimate care needs of my adult son, and I welcome them into my home as my brothers and sisters.
We have to be very careful about what is unfolding at the moment on this island North and South and across the water in the UK. When Natalie McNally was murdered by Stephen McCullagh in the most brutal fashion and her head left at a dog bowl in Northern Ireland, which has the highest level of violence against women in Europe, did people come out on the streets and burn cars? Did they set fire to buses? No, they did not. What difference does the Stephen Ogilvie attack have? I will tell you what the difference is. It is sectarian, racist, identity-based politics, that narrative, that rhetoric of hatred mobilised by various privileged people to get their foot soldiers to go out and attack the vulnerable on our streets. It is Kristallnacht, wash, rinse, repeat. Destroying a Turkish barber? We have to confront this as politicians and we must take a stand against this type of appalling rhetoric. The only common denominator in most of these assaults is that they are perpetrated by men. Should we ban all men from the streets? Certainly we should not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or skin colour. We are all capable of the same potential violence.
Yesterday I spoke about security and defence issues and I watched the response to my contribution. I have never queried the professional or service record of any Member of the House. I have never brought into question their credibility, standing or validity. This is a vocational House and I bring my expertise here in good faith and everything I say is evidence-based. I would hope that going forward in future contributions the subject and the ball is dealt with and not the man.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10