A Sinn Féin TD who apologised after describing the 1979 Narrow Water killings as a lesson to "slow learners" about the cost of "occupying Ireland" is to make a statement to the Dáil later this month after further comments emerged.
Brian Stanley sparked a political storm last week after posting the comments about the deaths of British soldiers and auxiliaries on Twitter.
His party leader Mary Lou McDonald has said earlier this week that she would not take disciplinary action because the comments were a "one-off"
However, yesterday she said in a statement that she had held a meeting with Mr Stanley.
"We discussed the ongoing public commentary relating to tweets he has posted and a radio interview he gave in March," she said.
"At my request, Teachta Stanley will take next week to be with his family, for whom this period of public controversy and comment has proven very difficult."
She confirmed he has also written to the Ceann Comhairle “to request time to make a full personal statement to the Dáil on the 15th (of) December.”
The development came after it has emerged that the senior Sinn Féin man has deleted his Twitter and Facebook accounts.
It has now emerged that he has also posted other controversial tweets in the past, including one in 2017 about former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who is gay, when he was elected leader of Fine Gael.
He wrote “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.”
He has also been accused of suggesting it could be possible to catch Covid-19 by eating chicken imported from China during a Midland 103 radio interview in March.
Mr Stanley has said he believes a “campaign” is being directed against him.
"I understand there is an orchestrated campaign directed against me by political opponents at present, which includes dragging up old interviews and tweets and taking them out of context," he said.
" ... will not let that detract from my work representing the people of Laois and Offaly, or from my work as chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee."
His comments came after he commented on the 1920 Kilmichael ambush during which 17 members of the auxiliaries were killed and a double bomb attack at Narrow Water in Co Down in 1979 that resulted in 18 British soldiers losing their lives.
He wrote: "Kilmicheal and Narrow Water 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".
He later told the Dail’s Public Accounts Committee that his "tweet fell below the standards, not just of what we expect from each other, but also what I expect from myself as a member of the Dáil".
"And for that I am genuinely sorry," he said.
Earlier this week, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said that she is “absolutely certain that this was a singular, one-off mistake by Brian Stanley and one that will not be repeated.”
