The grieving father of a 17-year-old girl killed by a speeding motorist has said that Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s decision to appoint a TD - who was convicted of driving at over 190kph - to a high-profile Dáil committee is an ‘insult’ to all of the families who have lost their loved ones in road tragedies.
The decision to appoint Kerry Fianna Fáil TD Michael Cahill – who remains under investigation by his party over his speeding conviction – to replace his constituency rival Danny Healy-Rae on the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture has also sparked a backlash from Fine Gael.
Frankie McCann, whose teenage daughter Kiea and her friend Dlava Mohamed both died as they were driven to an end-of-school Debs dance in August of 2023, this weekend called on the Taoiseach to reverse the appointment of Mr Cahill.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘What does that say for all the victims that are killed on the road? It’s an insult. It’s an insult to any family that has gone through tragedy, or any family that [will in the future be] going through tragedy.’
Mr McCann has called for the Fianna Fáil TD to be removed from his newly appointed committee position.
He added: ‘It would have been better in his line when he was done for that [speeding] to… try to do something [good], instead of getting a job back and getting a pay rise.’
Kiea and best pal Dlava were killed when the car they were travelling in – which was driven by a former family friend – crashed into a tree on the outskirts of her hometown of Clones in Co. Monaghan.
It later emerged Anthony McGinn, from Drumloo, Newbliss, Co. Monaghan, lost control of the car while he was driving at 150kph.
Frankie and Teresa McCann, whose teenage daughter Kiea and her friend Dlava Mohamed both died as they were driven to an end-of-school Debs dance in August of 2023
Michael Cahill TD was clocked doing 190km/h a
Micheál Martin appointed Mr Cahill to the Dáil committee despite having previously described his TD’s actions as ‘completely and utterly unacceptable’
The 61-year-old was given a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of the young friends.
The Road Safety Authority this weekend declined to comment on Mr Cahill’s appointment to the Dáil Agriculture committee.
However, Fine Gael ministers and backbenchers have described the appointment as ‘bizarre and a very unpleasant look for our Government’.
Mr Cahill, 60, was disqualified from driving in January after he was caught driving at 190kph, overtaking a stream of traffic and getting aggressively close to a van to force it to change lanes.
He was disqualified for two years after being convicted at Fermoy District Court of dangerous driving in March of last year.
The Fianna Fáil TD did not appeal against the conviction and he subsequently stood down from a position on the Oireachtas Justice Committee.
Mr Martin appointed Mr Cahill to the Dáil committee despite having previously described his TD’s actions as ‘completely and utterly unacceptable’.
At the time, Fianna Fáil said the matter would be considered by its internal rules and procedures committee.
It was initially thought that the rules committee would be making its decision within six weeks. However, the party recently confirmed that the matter was still under investigation.
A Fine Gael minister told the MoS: ‘Had that happened to a TD in our party, they would have immediately lost the party whip, absolutely no doubt about it.
‘Yet, looking from where we sat, Micheál was too weak to move on the man, since he was facing significant [internal] rebellion even back in January.’
A Fine Gael TD also added: ‘We are looking on at this with bemusement. Yes, the Taoiseach has final say over appointments to Government seats on committees – but come on! This TD was only thrown off the Justice Committee less than three months ago; he is still under investigation by his party for an awful speeding offence.
'It’s hard to figure out what is going on with Fianna Fáil, only that Micheál Martin, who was a cautious man in the past, is making reckless moves to keep himself in his job.’
Speaking to his Radio Kerry after his appointment was confirmed, Mr Cahill said: ‘I’m honoured to be asked by the Government… and hopefully I’ll be able to help the farming community in Kerry. And I’ve no doubt that Danny Healy-Rae will be in at the meetings and that he’ll contribute.
‘It was either Michael Cahill takes it,’ he said, referring to himself in the third person, ‘or Kerry loses it.’
He added, ‘We have CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] coming up. And they are going to be some very, very difficult [negotiations].’