Michael Collins (politician, Born 1968)
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Michael Collins (born 26 February 1968) is an Irish politician who has been a
Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( ; ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish language, Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The official Engli ...
(TD) for the Cork South-West constituency since the 2016 general election. Collins is the leader of the
Independent Ireland Independent Ireland is a right-wing political party in Ireland. It was formed on 8 November 2023 by former independent TDs Michael Collins and Richard O'Donoghue. Their elected representation was subsequently boosted by the joining of TD M ...
political party, which was founded in November 2023.


Political career

He served as a member of
Cork County Council Cork County Council () is the local authority of County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001, as amended. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban pl ...
from
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to 2016. In May 2018, the ''
Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...
'' published a "political rich list", outlining how much personal wealth Ireland's political class was estimated to have. The report featured Collins and estimated him to be a millionaire, suggesting he had property assets worth almost €850,000 alone. Collins was re-elected as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
TD at the 2020 general election. In December 2021 Collins was among a group of TDs who proposed a bill in the Dáil that would require pain relief for a foetus during later abortions. The bill was defeated by 107 votes to 36. The Minister of Health
Stephen Donnelly Stephen Donnelly (born 14 December 1975) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Health from June 2020 to January 2025. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency from 2011 to 2024. On his election ...
stated it would not be appropriate for a piece of legislation to dictate clinical practice in a medical or a healthcare setting. Meanwhile, Collins' fellow Cork South-West TD
Holly Cairns Holly Cairns (born 4 November 1989), also known as Holly McKeever Cairns, is an Irish politician who has been leader of the Social Democrats party since March 2023. She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork South-West since the 2020 general ...
stated that the move was "upsetting for the women and families who have had later abortions and insulting to our healthcare practitioners" and suggested Collins and his group were determined to try and re-run and undermine the 2018 referendum on the Eighth amendment using American conservative style tactics. In November 2023, he was named as the leader of
Independent Ireland Independent Ireland is a right-wing political party in Ireland. It was formed on 8 November 2023 by former independent TDs Michael Collins and Richard O'Donoghue. Their elected representation was subsequently boosted by the joining of TD M ...
, a new
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
. At the 2024 general election, Collins was re-elected to the Dáil.


Political views

In January 2018, in the run-up to the referendum on the 8th amendment of that May, Collins stated that he was "against abortion. Full stop." In May 2021, while speaking in the Dáil, Collins suggested that a hotel chain being used by the government to quarantine those suspected of having COVID-19 was linked to
Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( , ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American financier and child sex offender. Born and raised in New York City, Epstein began his professional career as a teacher at the Dalton School, despite lacking a col ...
. In an April 2024 interview with ''
Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...
'' Collins stated he believes that prostitution should be legalised, that abortion should be permitted in extreme circumstances, that rapists should be chemically castrated, that third-time offenders should receive an automatic 25-year sentence, and that legally-held firearms should be permitted for self-defence. He also stated that
asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...
should be held in "holding bays" like in Australia, that the
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should be banned in schools and that Travellers should not be legally recognised as an ethnic minority.


Controversies

In 2015, following his announcement that he intended to run in the 2016 general election, it emerged that, in 2013, Collins had provided a character reference for an acquaintance's son who was appearing in court and was later convicted of a child sex offence. Collins stated that he regretted the decision. In September 2019, Collins defended anti-immigrant rhetoric used by fellow TD
Noel Grealish Noel Grealish (born 16 December 1965) is an Irish independent politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency since the 2002 general election. He has served as a Minister of State since January 2025. Political ca ...
, and in doing so claimed Ireland was "losing its culture" because of immigrants and suggested that Ireland should "look after our own people first and then when that issue is sorted, let's start looking at people from across the world". For that, both he and Grealish were criticised in Irish political circles, with Labour leader
Brendan Howlin Brendan Howlin (born 9 May 1956) is an Irish former Labour Party (Ireland), Labour Party politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party (Ireland), Leader of the Labour Party from 2016 to 2020, Minister for Public Expenditure, National Devel ...
calling the pair "highly dangerous", and Irish President
Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...
, while not directly referring to them, publicly rejected their rhetoric, suggesting that it was not factual that immigrants were replacing people in Ireland, and that immigrants accounted for a high percentage of Ireland's GDP. In February 2020, after the general election, Collins referred to
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport The Minister for Transport () is a senior minister in the Government of Ireland and leads the Department of Transport. He is also Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy. The current Minister for Transport is Darragh O'Brien Darrag ...
Shane Ross Shane Peter Nathaniel Ross (born 11 July 1949) is an Irish former Independent politician who served as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from May 2016 to June 2020. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Rathdown constituency from 2 ...
as a "scumbag". In response, John Halligan said that Collins was a man "beneath contempt" and a hypocrite who claims not to make personal attacks but, in fact, does so repeatedly. Collins had previously referred to Ross as a "clown" in a separate incident and, upon learning that Ross had not been re-elected on the same night, he said he was happy to see Ross "on the scrapheap of Irish politics". Collins later apologised for his comments about Ross and denied being drunk when he made them. In June 2020, during global protests over the
murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
, Collins was criticised, alongside Danny Healy-Rae, when both TDs used the slogan "
All Lives Matter All Lives Matter is a slogan that emerged as a negative response to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, initially popularized on social media following the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014. The phrase has been widel ...
". Collins described the phrase as "his mantra" and said the phrase meant he valued everyone equally regardless of background. Shane Curry of the Irish Network Against Racism said he found it hard to believe that both Collins and Healy-Rae were naive about the meaning of the slogan and didn't know that many people use the phrase as a refutation of the
Black Lives Matter Movement Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and racial inequality experienced by black people, and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutalit ...
. During the same period, Collins rejected calls for statues and plaques commemorating historic figures involved in the
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be removed. While speaking on the Claire Byrne radio show on RTÉ in November 2020, Collins defended giving the roles of his parliamentary assistant and parliamentary secretary to his brother and his partner, respectively. Collins said he denied that this was a "jobs for the boys" situation. In December 2020, Collins was one of only three TDs out of 160 to say he would not take a
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in a survey conducted by the Claire Byrne show. Collins stated he did not trust "professionals and companies who make money from the vaccine". In response to the comments, James O'Connor of
Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
criticised Collins in the Dáil, saying that it was "absolutely outrageous that we have members of this House who are willing to come in here and pander to the message of anti-vaxxers ...", and noted that, “the Covid-19 vaccine has seen more investment than any other vaccination in history”. Following O'Connor's comments, Collins augmented his statement and declared he would be happy to take a vaccine "if it was proven to work".


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Michael 1958 births Living people Members of the 32nd Dáil Independent TDs Members of the 33rd Dáil People from Schull Independent Ireland TDs Independent local councillors in the Republic of Ireland Leaders of political parties in Ireland Members of the 34th Dáil