{"id":426177,"date":"2026-05-01T01:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426177\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T01:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:47:08","slug":"oflynn-says-withdrawal-from-breaking-point-debate-on-fuel-protests-was-not-at-independent-irelands-direction-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426177\/","title":{"rendered":"O\u2019Flynn says withdrawal from Breaking Point debate on fuel protests was not at Independent Ireland\u2019s direction \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Independent Ireland<\/a> TD Ken O\u2019Flynn has insisted his party played no role in his withdrawal from an event hosted by a conservative group.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Flynn had been scheduled to take part in a Breaking Point event in Cork, debating where the fuel protests<\/a> go next. He was originally billed alongside fuel protesters James Geoghegan and John Dallon, as well as Dublin city councillor Gavin Pepper, who has been described in the D\u00e1il as a \u201cfar-right activist\u201d. <\/p>\n

The event has now been rescheduled, with both O\u2019Flynn and Pepper removed from the line-up and replaced by protester Christopher Duffy and conservative John McGuirk<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In advance of the event, Independent Ireland TDs Michael Fitzmaurice<\/a> and Michael Collins had distanced the party from Breaking Point. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Flynn said on Thursday that he has \u201cshared platforms with people across the political spectrum whose views I do not share\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is part of democratic life. Engagement does not equal endorsement, but it does ensure open dialogue. In relation to the Cork event, my non-attendance was a matter of scheduling, not party direction. I do not believe public representatives should limit engagement only to those they agree with,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The event was originally planned to be held on Sunday, April 26th, at the Metropole Hotel in Cork. It was then announced that the venue would change due to \u201cunforeseen circumstances\u201d, and attendees would be emailed details of the new venue one day before the event. <\/p>\n

Finally, the event was postponed with organisers blaming an \u201cincrease in interest\u201d. The event is now scheduled to take place at the Charleville Park Hotel this weekend. <\/p>\n

Breaking Point describes itself as a \u201cforum for new ideas\u201d. It is not a political party or a campaign group, but hosts events that platform anti-immigration and conservative speakers.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Drug intimidation more lucrative for dealers than selling drugs, D\u00e1il hearsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Independent Ireland said it does not control which meetings its TDs attend: \u201cthey\u2019re grown men and women\u201d. In a statement, it said: \u201cIndependent Ireland has no affiliation with Breaking Point or the organisation of its events.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur TDs and councillors attend a wide range of meetings and community engagements throughout the year. We would estimate that there are hundreds of meetings and community events attended each year by our elected reps. As a party, we do not seek to direct or prescribe which events individual elected representatives choose to attend.<\/p>\n

\u201cBased on our current understanding, no elected representatives are scheduled to attend the event referenced in Cork.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Independent Ireland TD Ken O\u2019Flynn has insisted his party played no role in his withdrawal from an event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,7038,43],"class_list":["post-426177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-politics","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}