Taoiseach apologises for referring to Belfast as ‘overseas’
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has apologised after he referred to Belfast as being overseas.
However, the Irish premier continued his war of words with Sinn Fein, saying those in the party should change their language when referring to the Republic.
He asked if the party “in the interests of goodwill” would “stop referring to the State as the ‘South of Ireland’, ‘Free State’ or the ‘Southern State’”.
“Some find that offensive too and it is geographically incorrect, especially if you consider the location of Donegal,” he added.
Sinn Fein MLA Emma Sheerin said the comments were “clearly deflection politics from the Taoiseach”, adding they were “bizarre and insulting remarks about the north”.
On Friday Mr Varadkar angered nationalists during a radio interview when asked about the possibility that Green Party members here would have a say on its talks on entering a coalition government in Dublin.
“We don’t have a lot of overseas members. We do have some overseas members though. We have members in Belfast for example,” he said on Pat Kenny’s Newstalk radio show.
He was accused of “insulting nationalists”.
In a statement to The Irish News the Taoiseach said sorry.
“My sincere apologies to anyone I offended,” Mr Varadkar said.
“I have crossed the land border dozens of times in my efforts to prevent a hard border and to bring both jurisdictions closer together.
“To clarify: Fine Gael has a Belfast branch and we also have branches overseas, like Brussels. The context, which some have neglected to mention, was me defending the right of Green Party and Fine Gael members living in Northern Ireland to have a say on whether we form a government together.”
A series of clashes have erupted between Sinn Fein and Fine Gael in the wake of February’s election result in the Republic.