Leo Varadkar has said Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald’s handling of a tweet about him was “woefully inadequate.”
The tweet he was referring to was posted by Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley which read: “Yippee 4 d tory. it's Leo. U can do what u like in bed but don't look 4 a pay rise the next morning."
Sinn Fein and Brian Stanley have denied the tweet is homophobic.
But the Tanáiste said the Sinn Fein leader “failed to deal” with the tweet and claimed he has previously dealt with “blatant homophobic and racist” remarks made by a Sinn Fein councillor.
Referring to Brian Stanley's tweet, he said: “It was something I was going to let pass to be honest and I didn’t say anything about it until Monday because to be honest I’m not sensitive and I’m not self-righteous and I don’t believe in cancel culture.
“And you know people say things that are homophobic, sexist or misogynistic but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re homophobic or sexist or misoginistic.
“And I think the test really is how you respond to what is being pointed out to you.
“How do you deal with it and I think Mary Lou McDonald yesterday in her radio interview failed to deal with it.”
Mr Varadkar said he receives a “fair spattering” online of homophobic and racist abuse but he doesn’t want to make an issue of it.
He told the Mirror: “I’ve never felt this stuff has held me back or made a big deal of it.
“And I don’t want to now but I really did feel that the response on Monday [from Ms McDonald] was woefully inadequate.”
Mr Varadkar said it might not be “a bad idea” for Ms McDonald to come before the Dáil as well as Brian Stanley to deal with issues that have emerged.
He said a Sinn Fein councillor previously only faced suspension from the party when it emerged he had made “misogynistic remarks about women.”
But Mr Varadkar said no action was taken at the time by Ms McDonald for what he said were blatant “homophobic and racist” remarks made about him.
He added: “So to me it shows a pattern of behaviour and that if you’re in Sinn Fein and you’re a woman, from a minority ethnic background or if you’re an LGBT supporter you’re celebrated.
“But if you’re LGBT, a woman, if you’re from an ehtnic background and you're not a Sinn Fein supporter, well then those aspects of you are fair game.
“And they’ve proved that now and I think that’s wrong and it’s been very badly handled by them.”
