Local Sinn Féin TD says Deputy Stanley's tweets have been 'taken out of context'

A local Sinn Féin TD says Brian Stanley won't be stepping down from his position as chair of the public accounts committee following controversy over two of his tweets.

Pauline Tully added that Deputy Stanley's tweets have nothing to do with his work on the committee and that we need to move on from the controversy.

Brian Stanley has since deleted his social media accounts.

In a tweet over the weekend, Mr Stanley appeared to glorify the violence of the War of Independence and the Troubles, while he also received backlash over a 2017 post that seemed to show him comment on Leo Varadkar's sexuality.

Deputy Tully told The Joe Finnegan Show that Brian Stanley's tweet regarding the Tanaiste had been "taken out of context":