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Brian first. Now Martin. This is Sinn Féin exploring their side of Wilde – losing a TD for a week can be considered a disgrace, losing two TDs for a week seems more than careless.
There was great anticipation around Leinster House for the latest apology in a long list of recent apologies to darken the Dáil’s door. This was a very unusual one: a sinner Shinner.
As a rule, they do not make contrition on camera. That is something they routinely ask other politicians to do. But the negative public reaction to a couple of vile tweets from Brian Stanley, a high-ranking party member who also chairs the powerful Public Accounts Committee, forced the Laois-Offaly coach to enter the Dáil to present a formal apology to the camera.
Rejoicing comments
After his gloating comment on social media about an IRA massacre in 1979, Stanley gave in to the pressure and apologized to the PAC, but this was not enough for many TDs who renewed calls for him to explain his action in parliament. .
He did so, but only after he took a week off from the Dáil first so he could overcome the trauma of being called out for his offensive tweets. His party leader suggested that he take a gardening permit and he agreed.
Nobody saw that breath coming. It was a very novel move. Reluctant or not, TDs have always clashed roughly when they have little option but to give in to public and political pressure.
Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, after a brief break in reorganization and before the anticipated minor session of questions to the Minister of Higher Education, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl informed the House that Congressman Stanley wanted to make “a personal explanation to the Chamber, in accordance with order 56. No debate or statements by other members may arise as a result of their contribution ”.
Perhaps the fact that the officers were not allowed to say anything after Stanley’s statement was the reason so few of them showed up to hear her. Three TDs sat on the Government side: Chief Whip Jack Chambers, Fine Gael backbencher Brendan Griffin, and Fianna Fáil backbencher John Lahart. Freelance Carol Nolan, a former TD for Laois-Offaly’s Sinn Féin, quietly stepped in to take a look.
I came to listen
Co-leader of the Social Democrats, Catherine Murphy, who is also a member of the PAC and was very critical of Stanley’s tweets, also came to listen.
But it was Sinn Féin’s shortage of TD on camera when his colleague apologized that was the highlight of the short episode. That was not by accident.
When he spoke, the Sinn Féin pews were almost deserted, save for Mary Lou McDonald, the party leader, and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, the party’s whip.
In Dáil Éireann, the traditional way of supporting a political colleague under pressure is to flock in numbers and fill the benches around them when they have to make a personal speech.
Filled by colleagues
Even during the pandemic, when new arrangements mean that many seats must remain vacant, all available benches are often occupied by colleagues from whichever TD is the unwanted center of attention. No party is better at gathering numbers, drawing troops, and presenting a united front than Sinn Féin.
Not so on Tuesday. Stanley read his written explanation, beginning with an introduction on Irish republicanism and Sinn Féin’s part in the peace process before moving on to an apology. Something that all but two of his colleagues felt was not worth sitting on camera to listen to.
“We must be sensitive in the way we talk about the past and respect the opinions that others may have about the past that may be different.”
Accepting his flippant tweet (not his word) about the ambushes at Kilmichael and Narrow Water was insensitive and caused pain and anger. “Words can do that and my words did. So I’m very sorry. “
Tweets, of course, are often composed on the fly without much thought. Stanley had a week to write his personal explanation. And it was simple, really. It was the words that did for him.
If only I could have put it better, presumably. Same content, just better words.
And then there was the tweet sent back in 2017 when it wasn’t such a high-profile Sinn Féin TD. This was the homophobic dog whistle that marked Leo Varadkar’s choice. Except it wasn’t, Stanley insisted.
It was a poorly worded comment (again) about the welcome choice of a gay taoiseach. “Yippee 4d tory. it’s Leo. You can do whatever you want in bed, but you don’t look like a raise the next morning. “
“The point I was trying to make is that that was great, but let’s also focus on promoting workers’ rights, low-income rights, economic justice, and issues like a living wage, which we don’t have in this yet. country.”
Another example of an inarticulate speech from the heart of the Sinn Féin deputy.
Anyway, more than three years later and during his apology to the Dáil he says “Today I tried to contact the Tánaiste to personally express my apologies and I will do so again after this address.”
He took his time.
Meanwhile, as all of this unfolded, another little Shinner Sinner Twitter drama continued to unfold in an equally bizarre way.
Martin Browne, TD of Tipperary, was arrested for retweeting 9/11 conspiracy theories and then covered himself in glory on Tipp FM by giving his tuppenny hapenny on the Stanley controversy and saying he shouldn’t have to apologize.
Which is true, really. No one in Sinn Féin adequately apologizes for the terrorist atrocities perpetrated by the IRA. They cannot because that would be to repudiate everything they represent.
It turns out that Martin is chairman of the Oireachtas Public Petitions Commission, and some of his non-Sinn Féin members wanted him to meet this Thursday to discuss their tweets and comments.
On Monday, members of the 11-member committee were sent an email from the chair saying he did not intend to hold a meeting.
Later that day, a second email arrived from him walking from Fine Gael’s performances of Brendan Griffin, asking all the members if they wanted to meet up. A certain number must agree for it to happen.
President Browne needed to hear from all of them by 2:30 on Tuesday.
All members of the committee: Cormac Devlin, Pádraig O’Sullivan and Eugene Murphy from Fianna Fáil; Fine Gael’s Brendan Griffin, Eoghan Murphy and Jerry Buttimer, independent TD Richard O’Donoghue and Senator Gerry Craughwell were in favor.
Sinn Féin’s three remaining TDs – Browne, Pat Buckley and Fintan Warfield – were against it.
At lunchtime on Tuesday, members were told that the president had become ill and needed to be hospitalized. In light of this, several of them sent an email to the committee secretary to say that they did not want the meeting to continue.
Sinn Féin said Browne’s disease was not the reason the meeting was shelved. It was because there weren’t enough members in favor. But they were, until they heard the bad news about their colleague on the committee.
Fortunately, Rep. Browne was released very quickly and was home in no time. Which is wonderful news.
The party told the Irish Independent: “He was briefly in the hospital for a minor problem that comes up occasionally. He has come home. There is no connection between stress or Covid. “
Unfortunately, it is now free this week. And then the Dáil leaves for Christmas. Rotten luck.
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