Lenihan withdraws ‘fascist’ slur against FG TD

The Minister of State for Integration has been forced to withdraw remarks he made in the Dáil last night describing a Fine Gael TD as a fascist.

During yesterday's debate on the education cutbacks, Conor Lenihan appeared to refer to Leo Varadkar as a fascist.

He insisted today that he was only joking, but withdrew the comment after coming under pressure from the opposition.

Mr Lenihan has previously been forced to withdraw a racial slur he made when he told Joe Higgins to "stick with the kebabs", a reference to the former Socialist Party TD's campaigning on behalf of exploited Turkish workers.