Cowen called on to apologise for "extremely hurtful" tweet

Laois/Offaly Fianna Fail TD, Barry Cowen, is at the centre of a Twitter storm today (Monday) after posting what has been described by one Dublin Sinn Féin Cllr as an "extremely hurtful" tweet.

Cllr Daithi Doolan, from Ballyfermot in West Dublin, has called on Deputy Cowen to withdraw the offensive tweet and apologise for comparing Sinn Féin to the infamous drug lord, Larry Dunne, whom Gardai believe was responsible for introducing heroin to the streets of Dublin in the 1980's.

In the wake of a new opinion poll in the Sunday Times which showed an increase in support for Sinn Féin and a drop in support for Fianna Fáil, Deputy Cowen wrote on Twitter "Reminded of Larry Dunne famously remarking "if you think we're bad, wait till you see whats coming after us."

Cllr Doolan described the Twitter post as "extremely hurtful" to the "many hundreds of families who are mourning the deaths of their children" as a direct result of the actions of Larry Dunne and "his fellow criminal travellers who peddled their death in the streets and communities of Dublin."

He said for a Fianna Fail TD to reiterate that comment as a reference point is "absolutely outrageous" and he called on Barry Cowen to withdraw the comment and to issue an apology. "Fianna Fail are well aware of the pain and heartache that heroin dealing has caused and for seasoned politicians like Barry Cowen to say this, there is no excuse and he needs to withdraw it and an apology needs to be issued immediately by that TD" said Cllr Doolan.