Mr Fergus O'Dowd (FG) called on the Minister for Agriculture and Food to withdraw unreservedly his comments about the people of Cooley, Co Louth, as reported in yesterday's editions of The Irish Times, claiming the Minister had attempted to make Louth and the people living there a "pariah county". Mr O'Dowd said Mr Walsh had stated that the people of Louth were smugglers and were involved in criminal activity.
"All of the people there patently and obviously are not," he emphasised. The Minister should apologise for his intemperate, irresponsible and unacceptable comments regarding the people of Cooley.
On the previous day there had been a very responsible debate in the House about the foot-and-mouth issue, and it was in the spirit of co-operation and of working together that he wished to say the inhabitants of Cooley were the finest people in the land and, like the people of West Cork, were good farmers, honest men and women and were entitled to the Minister's respect and to a withdrawal of his comments.
Ms Mairin Quill (PD) said that to seek to deny that there were smugglers in this State and that some of them had done untold damage to the decent people of Co Louth was to seek to deny the truth.
The majority of people living in Cooley were honourable, and for far too long they had been held to ransom by a group of smugglers who were located around a certain area and were being underpinned by groups throughout the State.
She was sure Mr Walsh had enormous respect, as she did, for the people of Cooley.
Ms Ann Leonard (FF) said she came from a Border county and she believed it would be very naive of politicians if they did not accept that smuggling had been going on and would continue to do so.
Mr Peter Callanan (FF) said an injustice had been done to the Minister. It would be far more appropriate if a call was made to those who had information to come forward with it.
The leader of the House, Mr Donie Cassidy, said there seemed to be people who were not conducting their affairs in accordance with the laws of the land.
Nobody could condone that. He thought that it was with that in mind that the Minister had expressed his views. "We stand shoulder-to-shoulder, led by the Minister, with the people of Co Louth and particularly with the people of the Cooley peninsula who are the salt of the earth and decent, honourable, hard-working people"