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Sinn Féin’s TD Brian Stanley has said that he accepts that a tweet he sent about the Provisional IRA bombing in Narrow Water was insensitive and caused pain and anger, and that he was “really sorry” for it.
Stanley had tweeted that the 1979 Narrow Water ambush and the 1920 Kilmichael Ambush were: “2 IRA operations that taught the British Army elite and establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Too bad they learned so slowly.”
Speaking at the Dáil, the Laois-Offaly representative said that people must be able to talk about the past in a way that does not deepen the division and must respect all points of view.
Referring to a second tweet, sent when Leo Varadkar was elected leader of Fine Gael in 2017, Stanley said the point he was trying to make was that it’s great, but let’s also try to promote the rights of workers and low-income people. income. .
In 2017, Mr. Stanley tweeted: “Yippee 4d tory. I’m Leo. You can do whatever you want in bed, but you don’t look like a raise the next morning.”
Sinn Féin’s Brian Stanley apologized for a tweet he posted about the Provisional IRA bombing on Narrow Water. In a statement from Dáil, he also said that he tried to contact the Tánaiste to apologize for a separate tweet he sent in 2017 | https://t.co/LpXgOKoGfN pic.twitter.com/N1zOqD6FFG
– RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 15, 2020
He said he accepted that he did not articulate that point very well and that the tweet was open to different interpretations.
Mr. Stanley said that he had tried to contact Mr. Varadkar directly to personally express an apology and that he would do so again.
He said that homophobia was abhorrent to him and that he deplored prejudice of any kind.
Stanley said he hoped the injured would accept his apology and that his colleagues would accept the sincerity of his statement.
No questions were allowed after the brief statement.
This afternoon, a spokesman for Mr. Varadkar said: “The Tánaiste acknowledges the apology given by MP Stanley to the victims of IRA violence and their families who were offended by the deputy’s statement.
“The Tánaiste did not seek an apology, but fully accepts it. However, he and other members would have liked the opportunity to ask questions or make a statement in the House and is disappointed that such an opportunity did not present itself.”
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