 On 28 February 1934, during a Dáil debate on a bill to outlaw the wearing of uniforms (a bill specifically designed to curtail the Blueshirts, a uniformed movement then associated with Fine Gael and formed to defend their candidates, meeting and rallies from IRA attack), Costello made a speech opposing the bill that has generated controversy ever since.In response to an assertion by Minister for Justice P. J. Ruttledge, that the Blueshirts had fascist leanings like the Italian Blackshirts and German Brownshirts, and that other European nations had taken similar actions against similar organisations, Costello stated