A leading RTE journalist has clarified a tweet sent from the COP26 climate conference which he joked led to a "culture wars moment".
Philip Boucher-Hayes was reporting from Glasgow for the national broadcaster over the past fortnight.
He sent a tweet on November 2 showing the breakfast menu at COP26 which included the carbon footprint of the items on offer.
The images showed an Ayrshire bacon roll from Scotland with a listed footprint of 0.4kg CO2, while in contrast, a croissant made with "100% Scottish ingredients" was 0.5kg CO2.
Mr Boucher-Hayes said in the tweet: "This morning at #COP26 I learnt that the carbon footprint of a croissant is greater than that of a bacon roll. #MindBlown."
Other journalists also picked up on the carbon footprint labels, including one BBC reporter, with many people shocked to see that a plant-based pastry could have a bigger impact on the environment than a meaty sandwich.
Barbara Pompili, Minister for the Ecological Transition of France, responded to the issue, telling the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent Adam Fleming that "a croissant is so good but it is fat and it's not the best carbon footprint".
The journalist also tweeted: "France's eco minister @barbarapompili tells me we should eat fewer croissants."
However, on Monday morning, RTE's Philip Boucher-Hayes issued a "retraction and clarification" in relation to his initial tweet.
He wrote: "My tweet about a plant based croissant’s carbon footprint at COP26 was picked up by the BBC.
"They elevated it to the level of minor diplomatic incident forcing a French minister to advise against pastries for breakfast.
"Naturally this culture wars moment was spotted by the tabloids who just loved the rubbing the cheese eating surrender monkeys faces in it.
"But it turns out the catering company made a typo on their menu. A plant based croissant in fact generates 0.1kg of CO2e, a quarter of what the bacon buttie does. My apologies to the people of the great nation of France and consumers of vegan pastries everywhere."
He joked with several people who responded to his tweets with a variety of puns, thanking them for their "solidarity and moral support".
.jpg?w=600)
