Aontú councillor ‘wasn't advocating for violence' at meeting about possible Ipas centres in Meath
David Boyne, who is a local councillor for Trim, stood up at a Trim Says No rally on May 30, where he spoke about a recent decision not to permit an International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas) centre in an industrial unit in the area.
Mr Boyne also addressed a separate application that has been lodged for another unit in the centre of Trim town, with a decision expected next week.
Before being handed the microphone, Mr Boyne was told he was not allowed to mention politics, including 'f words' that relate to political parties.
However, during his speech Mr Boyne said that people power came in two forms, violence or voting.
'I won't mention those words but you know what to do. You know how to stop this,' Mr Boyne said.
'It's people power and people power translates into two things, violence or votes. And if you're not going to do one, do the other.'
Last week, Meath County Council decided not to provide Erinpark Ltd with an exemption to turn a unit in Oak Tree Business Park into a centre for international protection applicants. A final decision on a separate application for a premises at Fairgreen, Summerhill Road, is expected on June 10.
Mr Boyne said he was not telling those gathered at the meeting to use violence to oppose Ipas centres.
'Absolutely not. I wasn't advocating for violence. The point I was trying to make was people power translates to votes,' Mr Boyne said.
'So, when I said violence or votes, I was referring to the 1916 Rising, which was a violent event, that was people power. That's one way to do it, which nobody wants. Or the other way is votes.
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'I couldn't talk about politics. I couldn't mention politics and I was trying to link the fact that people power is politics.'
The councillor said he hoped that his meaning was not picked up incorrectly.
'The thrust of what I was saying was, violence is bad. Don't do that. Voting is good. Do that,' Mr Boyne said.
An Aontú spokesperson said it was 'absolutely ridiculous' to suggest that Mr Boyne was inciting violence.
'Anyone who knows him would find this allegation outrageous. Cllr Boyne is on the public record a number of times calling on people not to take matters into their own hands and not to touch property,' the party said.
At a previous meeting on international protection centres in the area, Mr Boyne told those gathered that 'anyone here that might be of a mind to take matters into their own hands, do not touch that building'.
The spokesperson added that while Mr Boyne's language was 'very clunky', the councillor had asked people to translate their people power into votes.
'Cllr Boyne is a brand new councillor. He was elected less than a year ago. He hasn't had much experience in public speaking, yet he has been thrown into the deep end, trying to help communities grapple with the Ipas system,' the spokesperson said.
They added that it was 'unfair' for Mr Boyne's words to be portrayed as anything other than peaceful, because 'he misspoke once'.
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