Sinn Féin's leader in Northern Ireland has censured three of her party's Stormont representatives found to have used derogatory language on social media some years ago.
Michelle O'Neill said the comments by MLAs Sinéad Ennis, Jemma Dolan and Emma Sheerin had been "wrong and unacceptable".
Sinéad Ennis used a slang term for Protestants in posts about soccer and derogatory language in tweets about men and women.
Jemma Dolan used an abusive phrase used to describe people with a disability.
Emma Sheerin made remarks about former Sinn Féin politician Martin McGuinness meeting the Queen.
In all cases, the language dates back to 2012 and 2013 before they were elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The issue was brought to light by BBC Northern Ireland's Stephen Nolan radio programme.
The story emerged the day after Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie offered to resign after derogatory social media posts about women and members of the travelling community dating back to a decade ago were revealed. His party later backed him to stay in charge.
Michelle O'Neill said she has spoken to all three women.
"The comments are wrong, they are offensive and they are not acceptable language for any Sinn Féin representative to use.
"I have spoken directly with each of the MLAs and made this very clear to them," she said.
All three women took to social media to apologise.
Jemma Dolan, a representative for the Fermanagh/South Tyrone constituency said: "I want to apologise and say that I regret and am very sorry for the offense caused by comments I made historically on social media. These comments were unacceptable and do not represent in any way how I would now express myself."
Sinéad Ennis, who represents South Down, said: "I deeply regret the offensive comments I made on social media. I am sorry for using language which I accept was totally inappropriate and wrong. I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused."
While Emma Sheerin who is an MLA in Mid-Ulster tweeted: "I am deeply sorry that I used offensive terminology on social media. It was and is totally unacceptable. It is not how I would express myself today and I unreservedly apologise for the offence that these comments have caused."
