Mary Lou McDonald hits out at SNL's 'drunken Irish' skit

'Those who would use that stereotype, I just ask them just to consider that before saying it,' Sinn Féin leader tells reporters in New York

'SNL' mocked Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson ahead of the Oscars in Los Angeles which drew criticism for portraying the pair as unintelligible due to their language and accent — with the punchline being that the duo 'hadn't started drinking yet'.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has hit out at US show Saturday Night Live (SNL) for its “drunken Irish” skit.

The show mocked Irish actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson ahead of the Oscars in Los Angeles which drew criticism for portraying the pair as unintelligible due to their language and accent — with the punchline being that the duo "hadn't started drinking yet".

Reacting to the skit, Ms McDonald said any kind of stereotyping that casts people in a negative way is unhelpful.

"I really don't like the kind of casual references to the drunken Irish, I think it is overplayed and I think it's wrong.

“And I think that those who would use that stereotype, I just ask them just to consider that before saying it,” Ms McDonald said while speaking to reporters in New York on Monday night.

The Sinn Féin leader said she does not believe Irish-Americans have a hackneyed view of Ireland.

She said she thinks relationships are strong between America and Ireland but that any stereotype can cause hurt.

“I've no doubt that lots of people threw their eyes to heaven when they saw that on Saturday Night Live and said, 'Is that the best, really lads, that you could come up with?'” said Ms McDonald.

SNL posted the clip to Twitter and some of the responses said it was tone-deaf, ignorant, and "deeply offensive" as it focused on Irish stereotypes that were "not funny".

All the stars are out at the Oscars pic.twitter.com/BHKygkLJPW

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) March 12, 2023

The following night at the Oscars, Farrell, who brought his son Henry as his date, made reference to the skit.

During a questions and answers segment with Oscars 2023 host Jimmy Kimmel, Farrell was read a question from a viewer who asked the Irish man what he was saying in the movie.

In response to the question, which was read out by Kimmel, Farrell said: "I’d like him to go on YouTube and check out the SNL skit from last night and he’ll have a good idea.” 

 Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee was among those to criticise the sketch, tweeting "yes, this (is) fine" with a facepalming emoji.