[ad_1]
DUBLIN — A Sinn Féin lawmaker said he will apologize face to face to Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is gay, for a tweet poking fun at what he does “in bed.”
Brian Stanley formally apologized Tuesday to Ireland’s parliament for that tweet and another that appeared to mock the mass killings of British soldiers in 1920 and 1979, describing them as “slow learners.”
Stanley also sought to explain the context of his seemingly homophobic tweet, which he published minutes after Varadkar was elected prime minister-designate in 2017. In it, Stanley wrote: “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.”
Stanley, who deleted his social media accounts hours after that tweet resurfaced, argued Tuesday that it was intended to convey his views on workers’ wages.
His statement was heard in silence in a lightly attended parliament session. Varadkar — who has accused Sinn Féin of tolerating homophobia, sexism and racism in its ranks — was not present.
“The impending election as Taoiseach [prime minister] of someone who is gay was rightly highlighted at the time as a sign of the progress we have made as a country and as a state,” said Stanley, who declined to take questions from other lawmakers during his five-minute explanation.
“The point I was trying to make was: ‘That’s great, but let’s also focus on advancing workers’ rights, and the rights of people on low income, and economic justice, and issues such as a living wage,’” Stanley said. “I accept that it is a point that I did not articulate in a very good way, and that tweet is open to different interpretations.”
Stanley said he intended to apologize directly to Varadkar “following this address. Homophobia is abhorrent to me and I absolutely deplore prejudice of any kind.”
Stanley is chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, which scrutinizes the spending of government departments and state agencies. Some of his political critics had called on Stanley to resign from that post, but Tuesday’s statement offered no hint he would do so.
Another Sinn Féin committee chairman, Martin Browne, last week apologized for his past Facebook posts sharing and commenting favorably on memes promoting wild conspiracies and assertions. These included claims that the 9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in 2001 were not committed by hijacked planes, that NATO was similar to Nazi Germany’s SS, and that the U.S. and Israel created the Islamic State extremist group.
Browne chairs the parliament’s Public Petitions Committee. While Sinn Féin is the main opposition party in the Dáil, committee chair positions are shared among all parties.
[ad_2]
Source link
