Fianna Fáil Councillor for Limerick City West, Abul Kalam Azad Talukder, made headlines after The Limerick Post first reported that he said that he would “like to see” those behind the Dublin riots “shot in the head” – or beaten by the public “until they die,” with his words becoming the source of widespread criticism.
However, he has denied that he meant the rioters. Speaking to Gript today, Cllr Talukder claimed that he was referring to the individual who stabbed children outside a Dublin school last Thursday, and not those who subsequently rioted on Thursday evening.
“I made the comments, because who can stab a five-year-old kid? I said they should be shot in the head, but I did not mean a real shot. I mentioned in the Council that I did not mean this literally. I did not mean for the person to really be shot,” he said.
Asked whether he made the comments about the rioters, he added: “I didn’t say it about them. The way it was reported by the newspaper, it looked like I was talking about the rioters. But I mentioned the five-year-old kids. I mentioned that clearly, and I said, ‘Who can stab five-year-old kids?'” he added.
“No, this was not about the rioters. I would not say that,” he said. “This was about the person who attacked the five-year-old children.”
Cllr Talukder said that he regretted making the comments in the first place, and said he apologised at the meeting. He added that he did not mean the words in a literal sense, adding it was “an expression of emotion.”
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