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Fahy refuses to apologise says he was taken out of context

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Protestors gather outside of the house of assembly yesterday. (Photo by Mark Tatem)

Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy did not give restive protesters the apology they were shouting for.But Senator Fahy also asked that The Royal Gazette supply a full transcript of his remarks from the Senate on term limits that he said were used out of context.“I did not say that people angry about term limits were people who were out of work,” Sen Fahy said, shortly after addressing a noisy crowd outside Parliament.He added: “I empathise with protesters and their desire to see full employment for Bermudians. This is what the One Bermuda Alliance has promised to do.”Asked if he intended to give an apology for what some called a dismissive manner toward people, Sen Fahy said: “I regret the way my original comments have been perceived.”He said he was “here to help Bermudians get employed” and insisted that “the most important thing to remember is that the work permit policy is the policy that protects Bermudian jobs”.“Every time a work permit is requested, that job must be advertised. That’s an opportunity for a Bermudian to take that position.”He said he was determined to listen and to work with everyone.Some of yesterday’s protesters took issue with Sen Fahy’s comments from the Senate on February 20, which were paraphrased by this newspaper.His full transcript reads as follows.“Someone said to me the other day, I shall share this with you, having attended the Term Limit forum, that if aliens from space had come down and sat in that forum they would have thought that the One Bermuda Alliance had been in power for 25 years, and that suddenly in six weeks we could fix everything that had happened over the previous 15.“I thought it was a funny comment but when you think about it, it is probably quite true. There are a number of angry people, and I believe part of that is because they are without jobs and they are looking for someone to place blame on.”Sen Fahy added: “I’ve got broad shoulders. I’ll take that. But it is because of failures of what has happened in the past, and we are here to clean it up. My colleagues and I are here to clean it up and then improve upon where Bermuda was.”