Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley 'genuinely sorry' for 'disrespectful' tweet

Mr Stanley said that he had "fallen short of the standards that I set for myself, and the standards expected from the Dail, and for that, I’m genuinely sorry". File Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley has told the Public Accounts Committee that he is “genuinely sorry” for sending a tweet appearing to laud two separate IRA operations which led to the deaths of nearly 40 British soldiers.

Addressing the committee at its weekly correspondence meeting, Mr Stanley, the committee’s chair, said that in doing so he had fallen short of “the standards that we expect of each other, but the standard that I expect of myself as a member of the Dáil, and for that I’m genuinely sorry”.

He said that he had sent the tweet, not in tribute to violence, but in order to “highlight the disastrous decision to partition the country almost 100 years ago”.

“I deleted the tweet and I apologised for posting it.”

“We need to be able to talk about the past in a way that is honest to each other, to our beliefs, but also doesn’t deepen division or cause hurt,” Mr Stanley said.

Mr Stanley’s tweet had remained online for 24 hours before being deleted on Sunday. It read: “Kilmichael (1920) and Narrow Water (1979) the 2 IRA operations that taught the elite of d British army and the establishment the cost of occupying Ireland. Pity for everyone they were such slow learners”.

“As an Irish Republican in a position of political leadership, I have to be more aware of my responsibility to ensure that I do not do anything that is disrespectful to others.”

He said he has always “actively supported initiatives to bring about peace” in Ireland.

“On Sunday I apologised, I want to repeat that apology here today and to apologise to all my colleagues for the position that I put you all in”.

Reaction to the apology within the committee was mixed. While Mr Stanley initially suggested that it move on to considering its minutes, it became clear that most members wished to comment on his apology.

All Fine Gael TDs present said that the apology in itself was insufficient, and that he must reiterate his position in the Dáil chamber. Mayo representative Alan Dillon went further, and suggested that Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald would also be required to make a statement.

His party colleague Jennifer Carroll McNeill suggested that Mr Stanley and his party give the matter “further reflection”, while asking if he had been asked to delete the tweet. She said the tweet had “hurt the survivors still alive today”, and said she wanted to know “what’s behind the sentiment”.

“Your party needs to make a statement of a similar nature that genuinely separates this repeating of the glory of violence every couple of weeks, and then it’s apologised for and moved on, but meanwhile is becoming more and more normalised,” she said.

Fianna Fáil’s Marc MacSharry and independent Verona Murphy meanwhile said they accepted the apology, with the latter stating that in her own private dealings she had always found Mr Stanley to be “a pure gentleman”. 

Mr MacSharry said that the committee “has an enormous amount of work to get through” and that he did not believe the committee itself is the forum for holding Mr Stanley to account.