Fianna Fáil's Cathal Crowe has apologised after he "wrongly" stated that the British Army "never retaliated by bombing or shooting the civilian population of Ireland" during a Dáil debate on the war in Gaza.
The Clare TD said he wanted to "clarify" remarks he made last night where he compared Israel’s attacks in Gaza and the actions of British forces in Ireland.
Mr Crowe criticised Israel’s "eye-for-an-eye approach" in the aftermath of the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, and added that the British Army never retaliated against civilians in Ireland.
"The British Army was a bad actor on this island for many centuries but even in the worst of days, when its cities were being bombed by the terror organisations of the IRA, it never retaliated by bombing and shooting the civilian population of Ireland," Mr Crowe said.
However in a personal statement in the Dáil today, he said he wished to "correct the Dáil record and apologise profusely to anyone who may have been offended by my comments".
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Mr Crowe said he wanted to "convey the huge disproportionality the Israeli state has adopted" in Gaza since the 7 October attack.
"I then wanted to make the point that brutal, bad and all as the British armed forces have been on this island for a very long time, they never resorted to sending over the Royal Air Force, tanks and missiles to pummel Irish cities," he added.
However, Mr Crowe said he got that comparison "wrong" while he was "speaking largely off the cuff".
"I was speaking without a scripted speech and instead using a series of bullet points."
Mr Crowe studied history in university and later went on to become a history teacher. He added that in 2020 he led a boycott of a planned State commemoration of the Royal Irish Constabulary.
The Clare TD acknowledged that British forces "have been involved in many heinous attacks on Irish people historically" and that his family also "suffered at the hands of British military in the past".
"My apology is to the victims of British state terror and atrocities. My apology is also to those who care about Irish history and the accuracy with which it should be conveyed."
Last night, Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on Mr Crowe to apologise and correct the record, describing the statement as "appalling" and "untrue".
"In his attempt to rewrite history, Teachta Crowe is erasing the countless victims of British state violence in Ireland, north and south, victims and families who continue to fight for justice to this day," Mr Ó Snodaigh said.
Mr Ó Snodaigh also said the "Government is historically ignorant to the point of being offensive".
Mr Crowe’s apology also comes as Tánaiste Simon Harris insisted Government is doing all it can to help ordinary people in Palestine - describing what is happening as "the genocidal activity of the Netanyahu government" and that there is "an act of evil going on".
