Silly season and the curious case of a Mayo TD and three little pigs!

MAYO Deputy Paul Lawless has well and truly learned the meaning of silly season. An article in the Mail on Sunday informed their readers that the 33-year-old TD had three little pigs outside his family home and they were residing in a “make-shift pen” without a correct departmental licence.

A flagrant disregard for porcine planning, if you will.

Previously, Lawless brought home the bacon, not once but twice in last year’s local and subsequent national polls.

It would be fair to say he was on the pig’s back since reaching the promised land of Leinster House after a rasher six-month spell in Aras an Chondae where his fellow councillors began to feel like the upwardly mobile politician was quite the boar.

The former maths and PE teacher was told on multiple occasions that his questioning of foreign travel trips by councillors in the county was ham-fisted.

However, he contended there may be a scenario where too many of his colleagues had their snouts in the trough for far too long and he was the man to go ahead and clean out the pig-sty.

The Aontú deputy is quickly adjusting to the fact that life in the national spotlight comes with more scrutiny and attention.

County Mayo is perhaps renowned for its healthy media climate but nothing compares to the unabashed relentlessness of a Sunday national paper in the barren summer months.

The exposé fell flat, the four-legged creatures had little to do with the deputy, as he contended in the article, and he confirmed that new homes have been found for them as they had only been taken into care at that address after someone found them abandoned in a nearby forest.

It’s a signal, however, that eight months since his election, where national political pundits assuaged “nobody had ever heard of him,” that Lawless has reached a new level of notoriety. All through his doing, it must be added, and the curious battle between himself and his constituency colleague, Minister of State Alan Dillon, has added further fuel to the fire.

Back in April, the two jousted in Dublin, government v opposition, Aontú v Fine Gael and Aghamore v Ballintubber. The two men, ahead of their time as usual, sparred over the threat of Trump’s tariffs, back when the orange man bloviated around the 30% mark. Minister Dillon took umbrage with Lawless and his leader, citing that Aontú called FDI jobs transitional and bargain basement.

This was described as a misrepresentation of the Aontú remarks and sparked a war of press releases from the two politicians carried by this newspaper.

Then the waters calmed, until Paul Lawless took to the floor of Dáil Éireann in July and re-hashed the Private Members Bill from April, utilising parliamentary privilege to skirt around the exact words used by the Fine Gael Minister, claiming that Dillon said there is no threat to Ireland from tariffs.

The line by Lawless on the opposition benches and since clipped up for social media were: “Minister Dillon, with responsibility for enterprise, stated that there was no threat to Ireland in relation to these tariffs.”

The former Mayo GAA star took to the comments on Lawless’ Facebook post.

Alan Dillon: “Where exactly was it said, Paul? Word for word as you stated in your video. Show me. Where is it on the record? It doesn't exist because it was never said. This is dishonest politics, it's pathetic and a real lack of integrity on your part.”

The line that Lawless used for this piece originates from April 9 discussion in the Dáil where records show Minister Dillon uttered: “Some have asked whether our model of foreign direct investment is under threat. I think the simple answer is "No".

Minister Dillon did not mention tariffs, he referred to general “noise” before this but did not explicitly state what the Aontú deputy claimed he did on the social media clipped post seen by almost 4,000 people on Facebook alone.

Therein lies the nub. Fine Gael believe that the FDI sector is in good stead despite the headwinds internationally. They are of the belief that previous shocks to the Irish economy occurred and Ireland managed to stay the course during Brexit or Covid, ultimately meaning that this too shall pass and FDI will remain integral to Ireland.

Aontú, on the other hand, believe these tariffs (this dispute originated before confirmation of 15% by Trump) will have a lasting impact on the Irish economy and that the Irish government should create measures to help increase supports for local entrepreneurs, indigenous employers and SMEs.

In what is surely a first for Mayo, the two elected TDs began to fall into a dispute in the replies and comments to this Facebook post. Just the nine times our democratically elected representatives commented, bickering over and back, like teenagers. Dillon clearing his name, but Lawless satisfied in having the minister dragged out of position and home comforts.

The minister concluded by commenting: “Paul enough of the nonsense, it’s you getting caught spreading something completely false.

“You stood up in the Dáil and posted online words I never said. You invented and fabricated them. That’s the fact. People see through it. You didn’t misspeak. You didn’t misunderstand. You made it up, and you hoped no one would call you out."

Deputy Lawless perhaps got the last laugh. He has since gone on to irk other government members, most recently stating that the Irish government should tell the EU Commission to “get-stuffed” because of their plans to encourage Ireland to introduce hate-speech laws. A contentious Bill that ultimately fell flat and was signalled by the outgoing former Minister Michael Ring as a step too far to the left when Harris was anointed last spring. Former senator Lisa Chambers also turned against it late on as the Bill has little to no support across Ireland and many politicians received a barrage of complaints relating to it.

Yet, there is a fear that it will return due to comments made in Brussels to bring Ireland into line with fellow EU states.

It is in these half-spaces Lawless thrives and will continue to do so.

He will remain a fixture in Mayo political life for as long as he is willing and able. His office is well set up, his sister Deirdre is proving an able co-option, with reports of them both canvassing regularly for local concerns outside of election season.

Indeed he is far more the fox than the three little pigs.