The tweet has since been deleted.
Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick McKee has apologised to Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger for a tweet in relation to comments she made on Claire Byrne Live on Monday night.
Coppinger appeared on the show to discuss the issue of sexism in sports following recent developments that have led to Darts and Formula One bringing an end to the use of female promotional models.
Ruth Coppinger: Having ring girls in boxing is sexist pic.twitter.com/oHyicRDOYV
— Upfront with Katie Hannon (@RTEUpfront) February 5, 2018
Speaking on the show, Coppinger said that she felt that the use of ‘ring girls’ in combat sports such as boxing and MMA was “outdated” and “sexist”, a stance which prompted Patrick McKee to post a tweet (since deleted) which read: “We live in a “reasonably” liberal democracy. If women want to wear a bikini & take part in sporting events let them. It has nothing to do with you @RuthCoppingerTD Please just keep your clothes on. Please #cblive.”
Amongst those to criticise the tweet was Fianna Fáil TD Lisa Chambers, who said it “falls far below the standard of commentary I would expect from an elected member of the party”.
@fiannafailparty does not condone such tweets, it falls far below the standard of commentary I would expect from an elected member of the party. Apologies to @RuthCoppingerTD
— Lisa Chambers (@lichamber) February 6, 2018
After initially telling the Irish Times he did not see the grounds for an apology, McKee subsequently posted a tweet on Tuesday night apologising to Ruth Coppinger and saying that he had not intended any offence.
https://twitter.com/CllrPaddyMcKee/status/960967716327821312
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