Irish Politician Slammed for ‘Insensitive’ Tweet About IRA Attacks

AN IRISH politician for the republican Sinn Fein party has been slammed for his ‘inappropriate and insensitive’ tweet about two deadly IRA attacks.

Brain Stanley, an Irish MP from the midlands region of the republic, posted a tweet on Saturday comparing the Narrow Water ambush of 1979 in which 17 Ulster police officers were killed to the Kilmichael ambush of 1920.

He described the attacks as ‘the 2 IRA operations that taught the elite of (the) British army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Pity for everyone they were such slow learners’. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster said that it was ‘outrageous that someone with such warped views can hold a senior position’ in the Irish parliament. 

She added that ‘Sinn Fein talk about respect and equality but there’s not much sign of respect for victims’. Sinn Fein has its roots in Irish republicanism but has recently emerged as a mainstream left-wing opposition group in Dublin’s parliament, gaining a massive boost in support during February’s general election.

A party spokesman said that the Sinn Fein leadership have met with Stanley to discuss his tweet that they said was ‘inappropriate and insensitive and that he has apologised’. They added that ‘we all have a responsibility in this decade of centenaries to remember and commemorate the past in a respectful manner’. Sinn Fein’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, described the tweet as ‘clumsy and misjudged’ and stated that she was satisfied ‘it won’t happen again’.

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