Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has said he accepts that a tweet he sent about the Provisional IRA bombing at Narrow Water was insensitive and caused hurt and anger, and he was "truly sorry" for that.
Mr Stanley had tweeted that the ambush at Narrow Water in 1979 and the Kilmichael Ambush in 1920 were: "2 IRA operations that taught d elite of the British army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Pity they were such slow learners."
Speaking in the Dáil, the Laois-Offaly representative said people needed to be able to talk about the past in way that does not deepen division and must be respectful of all views.
Referring to a second tweet, sent when Leo Varadkar was elected as Fine Gael leader in 2017, Mr Stanley said the point he was trying to make was that it is great but let's also try to advance workers' rights and those of people on low incomes.
In 2017, Mr Stanley had tweeted: "Yippee 4 d tory. it's Leo. U can do what u like in bed but don't look 4 a pay rise the next morning."
Sinn Féin's Brian Stanley has apologised for a tweet he posted about the Provisional IRA bombing at Narrow Water. In a Dáil statement, he also said he tried to contact the Tánaiste to apologise about 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 in a very good way and that the tweet was open to different interpretations.
Mr Stanley said he had tried to contact Mr Varadkar directly to personally express an apology and he would do so again.
He said homophobia was abhorrent to him and that he deplored prejudice of any kind.
Mr Stanley said he hoped those hurt accepted his apologies and that his colleagues accepted the sincerity of his statement.
No questions were allowed following the short statement.
This afternoon, a spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said: "The Tánaiste acknowledges the apology given by Deputy 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 he does accept it fully. He and other members would, however, have liked an opportunity to ask questions or make a statement in the Chamber and he is disappointed that no such opportunity was forthcoming."
