SF TD NOW IN RACE STORM
Twitter account deleted after Stanley linked Covid to Chinese chicken
SINN Féin TD Brian Stanley was clinging to his position as chair of the powerful Dáil Public Accounts Committee last night, after becoming mired in yet another controversy – this time a race row. Fine Gael Minister Simon Harris called on Mary Lou McDonald to sanction the TD for his ‘homophobic and racist comments’, when it emerged he previously suggested you could catch Covid-19 by eating Chinese chicken.
Mr Stanley had already been forced to defend accusations of homophobia over a tweet he sent when Leo Varadkar was elected Fine Gael leader. This followed his original controversial tweet, sent last Saturday, linking an IRA blast that killed 18 paratroopers during the Troubles to a War of Independence attack.
Last night the Laois-Offaly TD’s Twitter account was deleted in what appeared
to be a move by his party to take control of his account.
At the start of the pandemic, in March, Mr Stanley told presenter Will Faulkner, on Midlands 103 radio, that chicken imported from China was being sold in shops in Portlaoise, and added: ‘ That type of stuff is unbelievable.’
When asked if it was a risk he replied: ‘Well, I don’t know that.’ Asked why he suggested it, he said: ‘I wouldn’t be having it for lunch, would you?’
When the presenter challenged him on what scientific evidence he had, Mr Stanley said: ‘That’s exactly the type of stuff that needs to be examined. That’s my point.’
Last night, Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu criticised the ‘ Trump’-like comments that have led to her mother being insulted regularly in t heir f amily- r un Chinese restaurant. And she asked why Sinn Féin ‘didn’t take away his account’ earlier.
She told the Irish Daily Mail: ‘People really shouldn’t make flippant remarks on where Covid comes from. Look at what effect Trump’s remarks have on the US. It singles out people and makes them at fault when they are not. It automatically generalised a whole ethnic group of people very unfairly.
‘Sure, you wouldn’t have kids g o i ng a r o und s houti ng coronavirus at Asian people if it wasn’t for people like Trump that say it is all Chinese people’s fault. I have had people asking my Mam for a side of coronavirus with their curry. It is not good.’
Further Education Minister Harris added to the pressure on Mr Stanley when he called for the Sinn Féin president to make a statement.
He tweeted: ‘We need to hear from Deputy McDonald on what action she will take in light of homophobic, racist comments from a Sinn Féin TD. She would be outraged if this was anyone in another party. One rule for them & one for everyone else.’
Cindy Liu, who is chair of the Association of Chinese Professionals in Ireland, told the Mail: ‘I am very disappointed about the quality of the TD that would say things like this. I don’t know the motivation, why he would say that. I think it is wrong to do and it is wrong to go in that direction.
‘This is a very sad, disappointing incident but that is not reflective of the Irish spirit or Irish friendship,’ she said, adding that they are part of the Irish community as well.
Earlier yesterday, Mr Stanley told the PAC that he does not have to apologise for a tweet with homophobic undertones because he has ‘gay friends and relatives’. He rejected accusations of homophobia over the tweet he sent when the Tánaiste was elected Fine Gael leader.
It read: ‘Yippee 4 d tory. it’s Leo. U can do what u like in bed but don’t look 4 a pay rise the next morning.”
Speaking at the launch of a PAC report yesterday, Mr Stanley said his record on campaigning on LGBTI issues ‘stands for itself ’.
He added: ‘I don’t have any apology to make to anybody. The point I was making was i t’ s great t hat we have achieved the right for gay people and for women and “yippee to that”. He later told the Mail: ‘ I actively campaigned for gay marriage.’
Last night sources close to the TD were adamant he will maintain his position as chairman of the PAC, the first Sinn Féin TD in the post.
When asked to respond to accusations of racism last night, Deputy Stanley told the Mail that what he said ‘should not be twisted’ and that he has had Chinese friends.
A party spokesperson did not address queries from the Mail over whether Mr Stanley will be asked to step down as chair of the PAC or whether the party asked him to delete his Twitter account.
‘I have gay friends’