Updated 11.16

THE MAYOR OF Boyle, Co Roscommon has defended comments on Facebook in which she called her constituents spineless, two-faced and short-sighted.

Sinn Féin councillor Jane Suffin wrote the posts after being disappointed when “only ten” people from Boyle attended a protest over the closure of Roscommon Hospital’s emergency department. She wrote: “Have you ever known Boyle any different, giving out like f**k while drinking tea in there kitchen’s (sic) and full to the gills on a high stool,” the Belfast Telegraph reports.

Another post suggests that she will set up a stall selling:

back bones,balls, tablets for two facedness,and glasses that allow you to see futher than the end of your nose,we will also have cushions for when your sat on your arses giving out [...] SO THERE IS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN BOYLE

In an earlier post, Ms Suffin wrote angrily: “POWER TO THE PEOPLE my ARSE, WHERE WERE THE PEOPLE sat on there arses”. She told RTÉ’s John Murray Show yesterday that she had been “very angry at the time” after two protests. “The first protest only about 50 people turned out,” she said. “The second there was a good turnout but only ten people from Boyle.”

Ms Suffin told TheJournal.ie that she was “standing by the comments 100 per cent. The language alright as a bit much, but at the time it was frustration and anger at the people of Boyle.”

Explaining that she hoped the comments would be a “wake-up call” to the area, she said: “If you knew the people of Boyle – they’re the best people in the world, but every kick that comes they take it. As town councillors, there’s only so much you can do.” Ms Suffin continued:

The publicity this has got over the last two days, I’d have done this six months ago. People are telling me fair play to you. Even elderly people are saying this might be the wake up call they needed. We have another protest planned for August 13 over the hospital, and I’m hoping this gets people up and gets them out.