Senator Eileen Flynn has asked singer Dermot Kennedy to apologise for his use of a derogatory term aimed at the Travelling Community. 

In an interview with a Canadian music channel, the singer was asked to give examples of Irish slang.  

He said “knackered” was a term to describe someone who is exhausted, while a shortened version of the word is a “really bad word”. 

Mr Kennedy went on to use the word in a sentence, saying that you would use the word if someone tried to steal your food. 

Videos of the interview have since been deleted, but Ms Flynn said the singer should apologise for using a word aimed at disrespecting the Travelling community. 

Ms Flynn told The Hard Shoulder she “absolutely admires” Mr Kennedy and thinks he is a “good role model for men”. 

“He's an ordinary working-class man who made something of himself and a good representative of the country,” she said. 

Despite that, Ms Flynn said the comments he made were “foolish”. 

“I don’t think he was thinking”, she said. “I don’t think he meant harm by it, but it shows how normalised it is to be racist to the Traveller community.” 

'A lot of hassle to our community'

A member of the Traveller community herself, Ms Flynn has sent the pop singer an email asking him to apologise and offering to discuss the harmful connotations of the word with him further. 

“I don’t think Dermot Kennedy was racist towards us, he never mentioned the Traveller community in the video,” she said. “But using the slur is not appropriate.” 

“It's cost a lot of negative hassle to our community to all generations. 

“Anytime I write a post on social media, you’re sure to see it. I'm often walking down the street and I'd hear people call me that.” 

Education

Ms Flynn said she doesn’t think Mr Kennedy meant any harm by using the word – but he should be more careful over the words he uses in front of his audience. 

“Hopefully he will take this with grace and be willing to be educated and educate his young followers,” she said. 

Ms Flynn said some members of Traveller community, including herself, are also uncomfortable when people use the term “knackered”. 

“I know they are two completely separate words, but they sound similar,” she said. “Some members would take offence, and some wouldn’t. 

“We should use this as an opportunity instead of attacking each other and remind people it’s not okay to use that word against the Traveller community.” 

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