Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is all transparent. The Deputy will always raise issues, through the Chair, about who is backing what or who is behind a particular organisation. It is very clear to me that Chay Bowes is a political opponent of the Government, as is Paddy Cosgrave. I would love to know who is funding The Ditchin its entirety. They partly fund it but who else is funding it? The site has no advertising and does not offer subscriptions. Did the Deputy ever question who is funding all of this? What really alarms me is that the Russian Embassy in Ireland praised Chay Bowes in February 2023 with a tweet on his essay, an essay I have read, blaming the West for the war in Ukraine, which it called:

An extensive analysis of the proxy war waged by the US, EU and NATO against Russia in Ukraine by @BowesChay, an independent journalist from Ireland

A few weeks ago, on 9 April, Chay Bowes turned up on RT India, where a caption referred to him as a Russia Today correspondent. That is what is behind The Ditchlads. I will pose a question to the entire Dáil. Is it our function to slavishly follow The Ditch's agenda all of the time?

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