Politicians have united in condemnation of an article in the Irish Mail On Sunday newspaper in which the outfits and appearance of female representatives at the Fianna Fáil think-in were mocked and criticised.
Speaking at the Fine Gael think-in today, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said: “We really shouldn’t be demeaning people based on what they wear or their appearance.
“It goes for women, it goes for men as well.”
The article was criticised across social media yesterday.
The comment piece took aim at several female Fianna Fáil parliamentarians and criticised their fashion choices and outfits at the party’s think-in in Cavan last week.
Senator Erin McGreehan, one of the women named in the article, said on Twitter: “I don’t know what is wrong with another human being that they could be so blatantly horrible to another human being.”
“I am very upset by this. I’m not going to pretend words don’t matter. They do.
“Words and actions and attitude are everything and it is how people should be judged.”
Yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin tweeted: “Why the need for such a personal, nasty and unkind article?”
“An article written in an attempt to demean women who takes politics seriously, and work hard to make people’s lives better.”
Speaking alongside Mr Varadkar, junior minister Hildegarde Naughton called it a “disgraceful” article.
“I feel it’s very disrespectful to women and coming from a woman it’s very disappointing.”
