Kingscourt farmer enters General Election race

“I was a farmer before I was a garda; and good people must do the right thing.”

Those were the words of Kingscourt man and former Detective Sergeant Val Martin who has announced his candidacy on behalf of the Irish Freedom Party in the upcoming General Election for the Cavan-Monaghan Constituency.

During his time as a garda, Mr Martin served in Ballymote, Co Sligo; Kevin Street, Dublin 8; Balbriggan, Co Dublin; Dowra, Co Cavan; Clones and Scotstown, Co Monaghan; and Cavan Town.

After rising through the ranks, he retired in 2005 having spent the previous 20 years of his career dealing with immigration matters across the region.

He is well-known locally and has voiced his opposition to the installation of wind turbines and, most recently, has been a strong advocate against the erection of pylons across Cavan, Monaghan and Meath to accommodate the North South Interconnector.

Mr Martin believes the Irish Government is failing to abide by planning regulations initiated under Article 3 (2) of the EU Directive 2004/42/CE and insists that Ireland cannot continue to allow immigration en masse because of the detrimental impact it will ultimately have on the native population.

He also believes Irish families should be placed on social housing lists first, and is especially opposed to carbon tax, which he describes as “extortionate, unnecessary, and unjust”.

“When Ireland joined the EU, there were environmental laws in place and I liked those laws but then I discovered that our government was refusing to comply with some very important regulations,” he said to The Anglo-Celt.

“Mainly these were in respect of environmental impact assessments, which if done correctly, would have identified the bad blocks [Mica] that were used in the construction of homes a number of years ago. Of course these assessments should be done through public consultation… but all of that has, and is, being bypassed,” contended Mr Martin.

He points to an EU Court of Justice decision in 2019 when Ireland was fined €5M over its failure to comply with EU legislation that might have prevented landslides linked to the construction of a wind farm in the west of Ireland in 2003.

Mr Martin says that was a “significant” ruling for people in rural Ireland around planning decisions that were being made without their input. “Now, we have these pylons that are going to be built, however, there is room for a challenge there in terms of the environmental assessment and I will be taking this challenge to the High Court,” he stated, adding he is certain the matter will end up in the EU Court of Justice.

“It is my contention that, if wind energy worked, it would be operational around the world; it isn’t and, as well as that, it needs fossil fuels to operate it,” he added.

On immigration, Mr Martin believes there is no such thing as a ‘climate migrant’. He says that, if there were such a thing, the Irish would have left this island because of the rainy, damp climate we have all become accustomed to.

He is also adamant that people who travel to Ireland without the necessary documentation or “tear up their passports before they arrive here” should not be allowed into the country.

“The EU persuaded the Irish Government to take migrants as dictated by EU law. But what is happening now is that a migrant arrives in Italy, for example, and the EU decides that person should go to Ireland. As a result, our Government does not know who is coming in here; who they are or what their background is.

“If this continues, in eight or nine years' time, we the Irish will be in the minority in our own country. I want to stop those people from coming in here and especially those people who arrive here with no documentation. Last year 170,000 migrants arrived in Ireland - that’s equal to the Unionist population of Northern Ireland,” said Mr Martin.

On housing, Mr Martin doesn’t blame immigrants for the lack of housing but rather points the finger at poor housing policy and decision making on the part of the successive governments over the last 15 or so years.

“Years ago, county councils provided houses and it’s not right that we moved away from that model,” he remarked.

“But the tourism industry has been decimated in this country because of all the migrants that are now residing in hotels. There must be a genuine reason for people arriving here. My intention to run in this General Election is to give people a choice. I’m putting myself out there and asking the people to pick my model.”

In conclusion, when asked about the view that the Irish Freedom Party is racist, Mr Martin is absolutely adamant this is not the case. “We are not racist. The left wing throws this at us all the time. What we are against is Irish people being put second in their own country and that is certainly not racist. It’s what you are made of that matters.”