Arlene Foster to write to Ceann Comhairle over Sinn Féin TD’s tweet

by PA Media

First Minister Arlene Foster is to write to the chair of the Dáil regarding an inflammatory tweet sent by a Sinn Fein TD.

Sinn Féin TD for Laois/Offaly Brian Stanley sent a tweet on Saturday celebrating two historical IRA attacks on the British army.

The tweet has since been deleted, but was blasted as “shameful” by DUP leader Ms Foster.

Mr Stanley, who is also the chairman of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee, sent the tweet on the centenary of the Kilmichael ambush in 1920.

He wrote to his 3,700 followers: “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, Mr Stanley said: I apologise for the content of an inappropriate and insensitive tweet that I sent yesterday.”

The Kilmichael ambush was an attack carried out by the IRA during the War of Independence in which 17 members of the Royal Irish Constabulary Auxiliary Division were killed.

The Narrow Water ambush took place during the Troubles and saw 18 British soldiers killed by the IRA near Warrenpoint, in 1979.

A memorial site at Narrow Water near Warrenpoint

The attack took place the same day provisionals blew up a fishing boat off the coast of Mullaghmore in Co Sligo, which killed Lord Louis Mountbatten, a second cousin to Queen Elizabeth who served in two world wars.

On Sunday, Ms Foster responded furiously to the tweet, and signalled her intention to raise it with the Irish parliament.

She tweeted: “I will be writing to the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil about this shameful tweet.

“Although deleted, it is outrageous that someone with such warped views can hold a senior position in the Dáil. SF talk about respect & equality but there’s not much sign of respect for victims.”

Mr Stanley’s tweet received more than 500 likes on the platform and was shared close to 400 times.

A Sinn Féin spokesperson said: “We note that Brian Stanley has deleted a tweet that was inappropriate and insensitive, and that he has apologised.

“We all have a responsibility in this Decade of Centenaries to remember and commemorate the past in a respectful manner.”