A Sinn Fein TD has issued an apology after she compared the partial reopening of indoor hospitality to the discrimination of an American civil rights activist.
Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh made the comments in the Dail on Wednesday during a debate on the introduction of new laws for indoor dining and drinking.
The legislation will see fully vaccinated people and those who have recovered from Covid-19 in the last six months allowed to eat and drink indoors.
Addressing fellow TDs in Dublin's Convention Centre, Ms Conway-Walsh said the rules were unfair to those who cannot access indoor pubs and restaurants.
She said the situation made her think of Rosa Parks, the American civil rights activist who is known for her role in a bus boycott in Alabama in 1955.
Ms Parks took part in the protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on public transport at the time by refusing to give up her seat to a white man.
Her actions are said to have ignited the civil rights movement in the US.
Ms Conway-Walsh said: "It's becoming more and more obvious as the evening goes on that this legislation is completely unworkable and unjust.
"I don't care how many Fianna Fail, Fine Gael or Green TDs stand up and try and rationalise it.
"I take what one of the previous Government speakers said, it's not too much for me to show my pass at the door and I'll go in and get my seat.
"And I really thought of Rosa Parks, and I thought of the segregation that's being done here and to say that people are being treated differently but they're not being discriminated against is just plain wrong."
Her remarks received criticism for being "not only embarrassing but offensive", as well as "mind-boggling" and "highly inappropriate".
The Mayo TD issued an apology on Twitter today, saying she did not mean to compare indoor hospitality rules to the discrimination faced by Rosa Parks.
"Yesterday when speaking in the Dail I made a reference to Rosa Parks that I regret when attempting to make a wider point about segregating people," she said.
"The two situations are in no way comparable and would not want to ever imply that they are. I apologise."
Opposition parties have voiced their concern about the new indoor dining rules, with Labour leader Alan Kelly saying that the legislation was “an Irish solution to an Irish problem” and would operate on a “nod, nod, wink, wink” basis.
However, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said today that “we need to trust people” when pubs and restaurants reopen.
Under the new legislation agreed by Cabinet on Monday, indoor dining will reopen in three phases.
Phase one will allow fully vaccinated people or a person who has recovered from Covid-19 allowed to dine indoors, while phase two will see people allowed indoors with a negative PCR test and phase three will see those with a negative antigen test be permitted inside pubs.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said the Government is aiming for the laws to come into force next week and no later than July 26.
However, Mr Varadkar has said more work is needed on the use of testing before it’s rolled out.
