A Clare TD has issued an apology to anyone who may have been offended by his comments in the Dáil yesterday regarding the British army.
Deputy Cathal Crowe was speaking during a debate triggered by a motion brought forward by Labour on actions the Government can take in response to Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.
In a post on social media, the Meelick Fianna Fáil Deputy has said his comments were off the cuff and he “clumsily and very wrongly stated” the British army “never retaliated by bombing or shooting the civilian population of Ireland”.
He says he was “trying to convey the magnitude and visceral hated which has been behind Israeli defence forces actions in Gaza”, that it was “not his intention to say this”, and that he “didn’t realise how woeful it sounded” until he received the transcript of what he said late last night.
Deputy Crowe has vowed to contact the Ceann Comhairle of the Dail today to set about correcting the record and says his comment was “a genuine error” and that he “apoligises profusely”.
Earlier, Sinn Féin spokesperson for Gaeilge, Gaeltacht, Arts and Culture, Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on Deputy Crowe to apologise and correct the record.
According to London-based NGO Action on Armed Violence, at least 188 civilians were killed by the British military in Ireland during the Troubles alone, 86 of which had no obvious motive or pattern of killings.
Listen to the full Dáil address here
