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STYLE: Christmas party season will be here in two shakes of a reindeer’s tail – and we’ve put together some stylish party wear for men P18
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Castleknock crown perfect 2019 season. SEE P31
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THE LATEST NEWS & SPORT FROM THE FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL AREA
JANUARY 4-10, 2018
No FF party sanction for ‘pikey’ tweet slurs SYLVIA POWNALL FIANNA Fail says it has no plans to discipline its Fingal bye-election candidate, Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, over tweets she wrote eight years ago. The senator has been in the eye of a storm since offensive social media posts published in 2011 and 2012 – which have been deleted – were made public.
Ms Clifford-Lee, who is the party’s Seanad spokesperson on Justice and Equality, apologised, claiming she was the victim of a smear campaign. In one tweet she referred to “some knacker” stealing her car, describing clothing as being “like something from a traveller wedding” in another, and repeatedly using the term “pikey” in others.
A Fianna Fail spokesperson told Dublin Gazette that while the party “does not condone” the tweets, it accepts they were made in a personal capacity. Traveller spokesman Martin Collins said: “Any politician who harbours these type of ingrained prejudices and discriminatory attitudes should not be in public office.”
Mr Collins, who is co-director of Pavee Point, added: “It is as a result of these attitudes that Travellers continue to experience inequalities and exclusion. “Recent elections have resulted in a rise in racist discourse. We also see a rise in racist violence, harassment and abuse and online hate speech.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 4