Sinn Féin TD hits back at ‘lazy’ attempts to ‘smear him as anti-Norman’ by Wexford councillors and officials

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The Sinn Féin TD at the centre of an argument regarding Wexford’s decision to take part in the European Year of the Normans in 2027 has accused county councillors and officials of “lazily attempting to smear” him as anti-Norman. Marking the 1000th anniversary of William the Conqueror's birth, the European Year of the Normans will celebrate the lasting influence of the Normans, with events and activities planned across Co Wexford as it commemorates its own Norman heritage.

However, earlier this month Dublin South Central TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh criticised Ireland’s involvement in the celebrations, describing William as “a foreign king who never set foot in Ireland, and had nothing to do with Ireland”.

His comments were noted in Wexford County Hall with Fianna Fáil councillors Lisa McDonald and John Fleming describing them as “unpalatable and unfortunate”, “negative” and “dour”.

Director of services with Wexford County Council (WCC) Eamonn Hore also spoke out, inviting Deputy Ó Snodaigh to come see Wexford’s heritage for himself and noting that the people of the county did not need a history lesson on figures like Cromwell.

"This is a way for our region to celebrate its history and culture,” said Mr Hore. “I must say I was very disappointed in what he said.”

Now, having read the article criticising his comments in The Wexford People, Deputy Ó Snodaigh has issued a further statement in which he has clarified his position on the county’s Norman heritage and doubled down on his opposition to the European Year of the Normans celebrations.

“I am highly amused by the outrage I have solicited by merely suggesting a King of England’s birthday should not be the focus of Irish state celebrations,” wrote the deputy. “Nowhere has officialdom been more defensive of the plan to celebrate King William’s birthday party than in Minister James Browne’s home county of Wexford, where I read in The Wexford People last week a public servant had to ‘calm down’ after reading my statement. I hope he has had a chance to recover.

“Notably, the same council officials, who can find the time to insist the birthday festivities of a King who never set foot in Ireland are somehow the heritage of the people of Wexford, can’t find the time to erect a memorial to the thousands massacred and taken prisoner in Cromwell’s brutal 1649 Sack of Wexford, despite Wexford Borough District councillors voting unanimously almost a year ago to support Sinn Féin councillor Tom Forde’s motion to do so, also reported by The Wexford People last week.

“The lazy attempts to smear me as an ‘anti-Norman’ by those who had not bothered to read what I actually said were particularly insulting considering I, like the Normans who sought to conquer Ireland, am of mixed ancestry, mixed ethnicity.

“The Ó Snodaigh (Snoddy) name which I proudly bear is, believe it or not, of Scottish planter origin, and my mother, Cliodhna Cussen, bore a Norman surname and made sculptures celebrating our mixed Viking, Gaelic and Norman past which are dotted across the country.”

Describing the European Year of the Normans celebrations as a “PR-exercise by a right-wing regional coalition government”, Deputy Ó Snodaigh said projects like the Norman Visitor Centre in New Ross were an example of how Ireland could “commemorate its history, not our neighbour’s monarchy”.

“We can make the most of our past without a King of England’s birthday being the centrepiece of it. William during his life had nothing directly to do with Ireland. But his successors as Kings of England, encouraged Marche Norman adventurers and mercenaries alike to invade Ireland, to soften up the populace for the English invasions that shortly followed Strongbow and his ilk.”

On the comments made by Cllrs McDonald and Fleming, Deputy Ó Snodaigh said they were “entitled to defend these positions if they wish” and hoped that, by raising his concerns, he had “succeeded in ensuring there is a debate about our history”.

“The government planned to quietly rubber stamp our participation in the Normandy Regional government’s nostalgia for conquest and kings without dissent. I dissent, and I suspect many Wexford people would too,” he concluded.