A FORMER Labour MP from Northern Ireland has been criticised for “preposterous and offensive” claims that the President of the EU Commission likened freedom fighters in Ukraine with the IRA and the UK with Russia.
During a debate in the House of Lords this week, Baroness Kate Hoey made the comments about a recent speech by Ursula von der Leyen in Dublin.
“When Ursula von der Leyen went to Dublin and spoke about the years of Ireland being in the European Union and how wonderful it was.
“And then actually appeared to liken IRA to freedom fighters in Ukraine,” she said.
“And actually likened the United Kingdom to Putin. Now you may say well she didn’t actually say that, but she certainly said it in a way that everyone who listened and knew what was going on.”
She added: “How can we in Northern Ireland think that that person, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission has really got the interests of the Belfast Agreement and peace in Northern Ireland at heart, when she can go to Dublin and say that?”
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole, tweeted that the comparisons were “preposterous and offensive”.
Ms von der Leyen had been addressing a joint sitting of the Oireachtas in Dublin to mark 50 years of Ireland’s membership in the EU.
Listing Irish virtues, she said: "First, the Irish passion for freedom. This country knows what it means to struggle for the right to exist.
"Today, another European nation is fighting for independence. Of course, Ireland is far away from the front line in Ukraine.
"But you understand better than most why this war matters so much to all of us. Just like our friends in Eastern Europe, you know that in Ukraine there is more at stake than the future of one country alone.
"Ukraine is fighting for freedom itself; for self-rule; for the rules-based global order. And Ireland has gone above and beyond in its support to Ukrainians."
Mr O’Toole also questioned Ms Hoey’s decision to speak at a rally against the Northern Ireland Protocol with “masked men brandished banners eulogising UVF gunrunning boats.”
Last June, Baroness Hoey spoke at a rally in Newtownards where one banner featured a picture of the Clyde Valley ship which was used to smuggle UVF weapons into Ireland in 1914 alongside a photo of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and the words ‘Dublin’s Choice – peace or protocol’.
