A member of Sinn Féin's front bench has called on former party leader Gerry Adams to apologise for an offensive online Christmas sketch.
Speaking on Deise Today with Damien Tiernan on WLR FM, housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said that Mr Adams had unintentionally caused offence.
"Given the fact that offence has been caused, I think an apology would be helpful," Mr Ó Broin said.
The online sketch was posted by Ferry Clever, a Derry-based greeting card company which deals in "satirical comedy".
Mr Adams appears as a solitary carol singer giving a rendition of 'Deck The Halls', adding in a republican slogan.
"Tis the season to be jolly, Tiocfaidh ár lá - lá, lá, lá, lá," the former Louth TD sings, and then wishes the man who answers the door, "A Gerry little Christmas".
The man then tells a woman inside: "I can neither confirm nor deny it was carol singers," and winks at the camera, saying, "They haven't gone away, you know."
Mr Adams famously used that precise phrase to refer to the Provisional IRA in 1995.
Just over ten years earlier, in 1984, the IRA shot dead Ann Travers' sister, Mary, who was 22 years old.
Ms Travers said that to be entertained by the online card, which has now been withdrawn, you would have to lack emotional intelligence.
Two gunmen had attacked her family as they were leaving Sunday mass.
Mary was crouching in terror when the bullet hit her lower spine, and passed out through her neck.
The girls' father, Thomas, a magistrate, was shot six times at arm's length, but survived.
He later recalled that one of the killers put a gun in his wife's face and pulled the trigger twice, but it misfired.
Mr Travers also maintained that at least one of his daughter's murderers was a member of Sinn Féin.
"She never got to celebrate any further Christmases and it was never the same for us, just like thousands of other families," Ann posted on Twitter.
Mr Ó Broin said: "I think if any of us say anything, even if it unintentionally causes hurt, we should apologise for it".
The slogan "Tiochfaidh ár lá" relates to a goal of a United Ireland.
"It is a long-standing political slogan. I don't have a problem with it being used," Mr Ó Broin said, but added that "as we are navigating our way out of conflict", we "have to be very mindful of the language that we use".
However, Sinn Féin agriculture spokesperson Matt Carthy has defended Mr Adams, saying he has nothing to apologise for, as the sketch has been withdrawn.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Carthy acknowledged that the phrases 'Tiochfaidh ár lá' and 'they haven't gone away, you know' may well cause offence.
But he insisted: "Tiochfaidh ár lá is a political phrase, I've used it myself in my own lifetime. I don't consider that it's a basis for someone to have to apologise.
"It was done for a good cause. It was done to raise money for Derry Search and Rescue Operations and to my mind, that's the context that it has to be taken in."
Minister of State for Local Government and Planning Peter Burke expressed disgust at Mr Carthy's remarks.
Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Health also emphasised the context of the remarks and agreed that Gerry Adam's had nothing to apologise for.
"The IRA is gone. It is not coming back. We have a peace process," David Cullinane told RTÉ's News at One.
Mr Cullinane caused controversy on the night of his election in 2020, when he shouted "Tiocfaidh ár lá", for which he later apologised.
But he said that in this instance, as the sketch was for charity, an apology was not warranted.
