Myers apologises for single mothers column

Controversial Irish Times columnist Kevin Myers has apologised for insulting single mothers and lone-parent families in an article published in the newspaper earlier this week.

Mr Myers sparked outrage by describing single mothers as “welfare addicts”.

He also used the word “bastard” to describe the children of single mothers and said the welfare system was promoting lone-parent families.

In his column this morning, Mr Myers accepted that he had used “provocative, ill-thought-out and confrontational language” and said it was never his intention to insult anyone.

He accepted that he failed to treat the matter with the sensitivity it deserved and, by unintentionally insulting so many people, had lost “both my audience and the argument”.