Updated 4.40pm
A FINE GAEL councillor, whose name appears on a list of potential general election candidates for the party, has apologised for a tweet comparing anti-Page 3 campaigners to Nazis.
Reports in the British media suggest The Sun newspaper has decided it will no longer feature topless women on page three each day.
The Times, which has the same publisher as the tabloid, said it understood last Friday’s edition was the last that would carry such images — although it’s expected they will continue online.
The paper itself isn’t confirming or denying the decision, which follows a long running campaign against the feature. A group — No More Page Three — was founded three years ago, and an online petition to ban the scantily clad images has attracted almost a quarter of a million signatures.
Dublin Bay North-based councillor Keith Redmond posted the tweet below in response to the news — and included a link to a Telegraph article in which one glamour model lashes out at “comfy shoe-wearing, no bra-wearing, man-haters.”
He has since apologised and deleted the tweet:
Earlier, a number of people — including one rival councillor — took Redmond to task over the comment…
While respected academic Mary McAuliffe — a UCD lecturer in Women’s Studies and President of the Women’s History Assoication of Ireland — has also weighed in…
In a tweet earlier this afternoon, Redmond wasn’t backing down from his comments before later deleting the tweet and apologising:
Redmond’s name appeared on an internal list of 24 potential election candidates put together by Fine Gael — which was leaked to the media before Christmas. The party members are being provided with policy and media training in anticipation that some will be selected to run.
“Councillor Redmond’s views are not the views of the Fine Gael party,” a spokesperson said, when contacted for comment on the Tweet.
Calls to Redmond’s mobile and his dental practice weren’t immediately returned this afternoon.
We’ll update the piece with any comments, once he gets back to us.
- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell
First published 1.09pm
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