Shatter calls on Ronan to withdraw Auschwitz reference

Former minister for justice Alan Shatter has repeated his call for property developer Johnny Ronan to apologise for and withdraw an "inappropriate" apparent reference to second World War concentration camps.

At the end of Mr Ronan's statement to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry, in which he claims the National Asset Management Agency destroyed his business, he wrote: "'Arbeit macht frei' nó, i nGaeilge, 'Tugann saothar saoirse'."

The phrase, which translates as "work sets you free" was written over the entrance to Nazi concentration camps in Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen and Dachau, amongst others.

On Friday morning Mr Shatter said he had hoped and expected that, in the wake of a statement he issued on the matter on Thursday, Mr Ronan would have explained his reason for using the phrase and applied to the Oireachtas to have it removed, he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme.

Mr Shatter said he did not believe it was appropriate this phrase remained in a statement on the public record in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

“That statement has now effectively got global access because it has been put on the website that provides material for the banking inquiry.”

Mr Shatter said he hoped the chairman of the committee Ciaran Lynch would look at this issue.

“I do believe Johnny Ronan needs to publically explain why it is in his statement, he needs to withdraw it and frankly, he needs to apologise.

“You don’t have to be a Dáil deputy, you don’t have to be Jewish. You just have to be a member of the human community, as all of us are, to find this offensive.”

"I don't believe he necessarily understands the offensive nature of this phrase and the impact it has for those who have lost family members in the holocaust. He said the Jewish community in Ireland found the statement "very, very disturbing".

The former minister said while he under stood that Mr Lynch, as committee chairman, cannot censor statements made to the banking inquiry, he saw no reason why the committee could not accept an amended statement from Mr Ronan.