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LAST UPDATE | 4 Dec 2020
SINN FÉIN TD Brian Stanley is to seek to make a statement to the Dáil on Tuesday week and will not be in the Dail for the upcoming week.
In a statement today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that she met with the Laois-Offaly TD in the wake of controversies over separate tweets and statements he made about Leo Varadkar, Chinese chicken and the IRA.
McDonald said he will “take the next week to be with his family”, suggesting he will not be at a scheduled sitting of the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday of which he is chair.
McDonald said she and Stanley “discussed the ongoing public commentary relating to tweets he has posted and a radio interview he gave in March”.
“At my request, Teachta Stanley will take next week to be with his family; for whom this period of public controversy and comment has proven very difficult,” the Sinn Féin leader said.
Teachta Stanley has this afternoon written to the Ceann Comhairle to request time to make a full personal statement to the Dáil on the 15 December.
The controversy comes after Stanley apologised last week over a tweet about two IRA attacks on the British army.
In a message posted on Saturday, on the centenary of the Kilmichael ambush in 1920, Stanley wrote: “Kilmicheal (sic) (1920) and Narrow Water (1979) the 2 IRA operations that taught the elective of (the) British army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Pity for everyone they were such slow learners.”
In a statement on Sunday, Stanley apologised “for the content of an inappropriate and insensitive tweet that I sent”.
Speaking before McDonald’s statement this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheal Martin had said that the controversy was affecting the credibility of the PAC.
“The credibility of the committee is in question and I think he needs to reflect on that. In terms of the issues that have arisen and I think the manner in which he has dealt with him,” Martin said.
I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the nature of the apology that was made. It’s part of a wider agenda by Sinn Fein to essentially justify the narrative of the last 30-odd years. That’s a problem for me and I think it’s a problem in terms of making sure that younger generations, growing up in this country are not hoodwinked or not misled into thinking that all these deeds over the last 30 years were glorious ones, they were far from it.
Deleted
Last night, Stanley’s social media accounts were deleted after he earlier insisted that he had nothing to apologise for regarding a tweet he sent about Leo Varadkar when he was elected leader of Fine Gael in 2017.
“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,” the Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman wrote.
Stanley insisted that his record on gay rights “speaks for itself” when asked to clarify his tweet yesterday.
“Some people have set out to try and twist this in some way. I don’t have to apologise to anyone because my record on gay rights stands for itself. I campaigned in every campaign for gay rights,” he told the Public Accounts Committee.
I grew up in an Ireland where gay people were criminalised. I grew up in an Ireland where women were treated appallingly. So I don’t have any apology to make to anybody.
“Let me say this, if we are going to get to the point where we don’t allow some level of freedom of speech and for every word to be twisted and turned then we are not going very far as a society.”
Stanley went on to say that short tweets can be “misinterpreted”.
“‘Yippee’ meant I celebrate the fact we got so far in terms of the rights for gay people,” he added.
Social Democrats co-leader Catherine Murphy said she did not think Stanley’s tweet about Varadkar was acceptable.
Maria Walsh Fine Gael MEP tweeted: “If Deputy Stanley really believes someone’s sexuality is linked to their abilities in their workplace…
“What is this saying to fellow LGBTQI citizens who face hate speech & discrimination on a daily basis across Europe?”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the fact that Stanely’s social media accounts were deleted raises more questions.
Why did he delete his Twitter account, what other comments are there? I think the two questions that he needs to answer is number one, why should he still be in that role (on the PAC)? And number two, why was it necessary to delete his social media account?
Amid the controversies about Stanley’s Twitter activity comments he made on local radio that suggested it could be possible to catch Covid-19 from chicken imported from China also emerged.
Stanley, who has been a TD since 2011, told Will Faulkner on The Midlands Today Show on Midlands 103 that he thought it was “unbelievable” that chicken imported from China was being sold in shops in Portlaoise.
Stanley made the comments at the start of the pandemic in March.
When asked if there is a risk presented by imported chicken he replied: “Well I don’t know that.”
I wouldn’t be having it for lunch, would you?
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy
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This guy still has a gun , I’m sure he is allowed under the 2nd amendment but don’t you think he would of got rid of it after the trouble it caused the first time around FFS ..
The NRA raised money online to buy him a new gun because he didn’t get his old one back after the trial. Keeping America safe.:-P
And this is the country that is leading the rest of the world around by the nose…..what does that say a out us??????
“There may have been some pushing and touching” but it’s ok because a it’s a divorce case?
No it’s not. If either party laid a hand on the other, that’s assault. I wasn’t there but somehow with all his priors I would lay money George was to blame. He really needs to be taken out of society, the guys a nutter
If either party laid a hand on the other…..what’s the other thing the yanks say???? Oh aye ” your I fading my personal space”…..the whole place is full of ejits……the American experiment has failed…..all great empires fall from within……the rest of the world are watching as the place implodes…..
He smashed an iPad for gods sake the mans a nutta
If that ipad was white he’d be in jail by now.
Its hard to believe who is right or wrong when a marraige breaks down. Both sides are known to exaggerate the truth.
America is great if you are non-black. You can shoot dead a black teenager after being told by the police to stay away & walk free. Then you can assult your wife’s father and still the cops do nothing.
But dare a black person drive at 31 in a 30 zone & they call out the SWAT team.
It doesn’t sound like the father-in-law pressed any charges against Zimmerman either. Given that both of the alleged injured parties in this incident have declined to make formal complaints, what do you want the police to arrest Zimmerman for?
Carcu. The Police did not tell him “to walk away and not follow”. What the dispatcher said (who is not a Police Officer but a civilian operator) was “that it was not necessary to follow”. Bit of a difference.
As most conservatives, few liberals, and no low information voters know, Florida’s stand-your-ground laws has disproportionately benefitted blacks. The fury being pushed by the Democrat-media complex is pure sham, intended to distract from the embarrassment caused by the pursuit of George Zimmerman when there was no case.
Okay all if I pushed you in the nose what would that be? Common assault, regardless if you press charges or not, it was still an assault.
Now how come nobody made a comment about my “31 in a 30 zone”, statement? Would that be because it’s true?
Whether you press charges or not is entirely relevant, since without a complaint from an injured party the police can’t prosecute in a case like this. Perhaps no one’s commented on the rest of your post because none of us are black Americans.
So Sandbag “You’ll know not what you say”.
I was a first hand witness of the “31 in the 30 zone”, when getting a lift home from a co-worker who was black and I can tell you it was scary. Never happened to me while I was driving alone I can tell you.
What do you want me to say? I’ve never experienced or witnessed it so anything I’ve got to say on the matter is of little relevence.
I hope the security footage shows him waving a gun around so he can be put behind bars with or without his ex’s testimony. This guy is a loose cannon.
Annette. What did the Police say? “We found No firearm nor did he have any indication of carrying one”. Then the wife dropped all charges and changed her story.
I think I’d have changed my story too… He murdered one man and got away with it and still has a gun?? Btw it is very easy to hide a gun and a LOT of abused/scared spouses decline to press charges or change their stories. Wait and see what the footage shows.
Again Annette there were no injuries visible to either the paramedics or the police nor was there any Firearm found nor any indication of him carrying one. The only evidence of any dispute was a broken I.Pad and no evidence as to who broke it. And as for your accusation of Murder. You will find he was cleared of All charges by a Jury of his peers. Why? Because the State Prosecutor persued the case for political reasons after the local Police and Prosecutor refused to indict because of lack of evidence against Zimmerman.
Why would you change your story if it would have gotten him arrested? If either his wife or his father-in-law had made a complaint, Zimmerman would have been taken away & they could have looked for a restraining order against him in the event he got bail. And as easy as you seem to think it is to hide a firearm in a car, the police in the US are as experienced in searching for them so I’d believe them when they say there wasn’t one present.
Seriously who gives a toss. American news reporting is dreadful I bet they added spin to make this look worse than it is.
All media adds spin and uses certain phrases and buzz words to keep the listener interested rte is no different.
A ‘domestic incident’ and there are at least seven cop cars at the scene? You’d be lucky to get one Garda on a bicycle here.
“Not pressing charges” isn’t even a real legal term. Either a victim can cooperate with a police investigation or not. It may be harder to prove a crime and move forward with a case without victim cooperation but it doesn’t prevent it. Whenever I see that term I translate it to: police don’t care enough/are too lazy to investigate further.
Tell us how Florida law will allow the authorities to prosecute Zimmerman in the absence of a formal complaint from either his wife or his father-in-law.
Damn right michelle I bet there’s semen somewhere on the crime scene that they could get tested
Rian why would there be semen? She did not claim he raped her or made any sexual advance to her.
@Michael Jordan, you need to watch CSI more often,there is always semen at a crime scene :-)
Not a fan if Superbad so
Happy to, Sandbag. The crime would have technically been committed against the State of Florida. The state passes laws that people abide by or break. Evidence of a crime is collected by the police. Evidence can be physical evidence, pictures/video, statements from the police officers who responded to the scene, statements from witnesses, statements from the victim, recordings of the 911 call, etc. All of this evidence can then be forwarded to the prosecutor to decide whether or not they can prove a crime has been committed. If the victim refuses to make a statement to the police it can make it difficult to prove a crime has been committed, but not impossible. In this particular case, the 911 call and any statements made by the victim to police who responded to the scene would be solid evidence to prove a crime has been committed.
Yet Michele in this case. There were no visible injuries on any of the parties involved there was also no gun found or even any evidence that he has a gun on his person. Both complainants changed their stories and withdrew the complaint. Could it be that the original complaint was false and under advisement withdrew the complaint to avoid themselves being charged with wasting police time.
The crime was not committed against the State of Florida; it may have been committed against two people on private property. If the two people in question don’t give statements, don’t give consent for access to medical records and don’t co-operate then all you’ve got is the 911 call, and good luck getting a charge past the grand jury with that. It is nearly impossible to get a conviction against someone where the injured party is the principal witness and they decide not to co-operate.
Not true. In domestic violence related cases about half of cases handled by prosecutors have “hostile” (uncooperative) victims. Many prosecutors feel it is in the interest of public safety to pursue these cases so while they do take into consideration the wishes of the victim, it isn’t the deciding factor. I know this from years of work in the American justice system–specifically assisting victims (both willing and unwilling). I have mixed feelings about how well this serves the best interests of victims so I’m not one to argue for or against it, but it is how the system works.
Believe it or not, George, isn’t at home, please leave a mes-saaage at the beep. I must be out or I’d pick up the pho-one. Where could I be? Believe it or not, I’m not hooome
If I could, I’d like this comment one hundred times :-)
They sound as bad as each other.
Although State Senator Barack Obama could boast of few legislative accomplishments, one thing he did do was co-sponsor a bill strengthening the Illionois stand-your-ground law. Hypocrite
Do we still think he’s innocent? Or should we ignore it because she’s s woman, that seems to be what happened with Trayvon because he was black, this man should be in prison for a long time.
Daddy what evidence was there to say he is guilty of what she claimed? No Gun. No injuries. She came back to the house with her Father knowing he was inside. Its as if she went expecting or wanting to cause an argument. They are going through divorce proceedings this could (and I am making a presumption here) part of a ploy by her to say that “on this date I had to call the Police”.
Imagine having the contract to make all the badges that our American chums like to wear on their uniforms.
Think she needs to press for gym membership
26 years old!!! Jezzz she looks like in her late 30′s….
have your say