Sean McEniff
| Sean McEniff | |
|---|---|
| Donegal County Councillor | |
| Assumed office June 1991 |
|
| Constituency | Donegal electoral area |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1935/36 County Donegal, Ireland |
| Political party | Fianna Fáil |
| Residence | Bundoran |
| Profession | Hotelier |
Sean McEniff (born 1935/36)[1] is an Irish businessman and Fianna Fáil politician from County Donegal. He is a member of Donegal County Council, representing the Donegal Electoral Area.[2][3]
He stood in the 1979 European Parliament election in the Connacht–Ulster, though was not elected. He was first elected to Donegal County Council in 1991, and has been returned every time since.[4] He was Director of Bord Fáilte between 1993 and 1998. He was also named Donegal Person of the Year in 1996.[5]
McEniff caused a mainstream media outcry by claiming Travellers should be segregated from non-Travellers.[6][7] He made these comments while discussing the proposed housing of a Traveller family in Ballyshannon; that house was subsequently burned to the ground.[8] McEniff stood by his views and rejected accusations of ' racism '.[9] However, ' anti-fascist ' agitants claimed that this had ' done damage to Donegal's reputation ' while many others questioned the logic of claiming an entire county responsible for the comments of one man.[10] McEniff was formally complained against to Gardaí.[11][12]
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said it was like what had happened in Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights protests. McEniff's Fianna Fáil colleague Dara Calleary refused to condemn the remarks on Tonight with Vincent Browne.[13] Fianna Fáil distanced itself from McEniff's remarks and claimed he was only "expressing a personal opinion".[5] Fine Gael's Eugene Dolan supported McEniff and said: "As far as I am concerned they can be sent to Spike Island for all I care."[14]
The Dublin branch of McEniff's hotel chain was picketed by protesters.[15][16][17][18] Such is the prominence of the chain that it has been compared to Donald Trump in the United States.[19]
References
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