Fine Gael Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan has described a tweet from Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin showing gardai at a famine-era eviction as "crass and ignorant".
The Limerick County TD suggested that the "mask [was] lifting" as he argued that the tweet gave the "public an insight into what would life really be like with a Sinn Féin Minister for Justice".
Mr Ó Broin posted a picture of an image by artist Mála Spíosarí that is based on a famine-era eviction on Saturday. The photoshopped image shows both masked and uniformed gardaí.
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He posted the image with the caption, "no words needed". The posting has been criticised by both Justice Minister Simon Harris and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI).
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Minister O’Donovan criticised the fact that neither Mr Ó Broin nor any other Sinn Féin rep was available to speak about the issue.
He argued that "any time there is a problem", members "disappear".
He said: "[Gardaí] are guardians of the peace who swear an oath at their attesting to uphold the law with fairness and integrity, with regard for human rights, with diligence and impartiality, and not being a member or subscribing to any political party.
"Anybody that can come out with a crass, ignorant, stupid demonstration of An Garda Síochána after 101 years since their foundation, to me, it sends a shiver down my spine.
"Every time the mask is lifted, the Irish public has an insight into what would life really be like with a Sinn Fein Minister for Justice.
"The call this morning isn't to Sinn Féin, but to ordinary people who are revulsed and disgusted by attacks on unarmed women and men of An Garda Síochána."
Minister O’Donovan said that no opposition party was in favour of keeping the eviction ban in place indefinitely, with Sinn Féin suggesting that it should end in January.
He added: "The artist maybe should have put a bit of snow on the roof if that was their attitude because Sinn Féin actually wanted to remove the eviction ban on Christmas week.
"There's a very, very, very obvious issue here and it is the politicisation or the potential politicisation of an independent sworn Garda Síochána by a future potential Sinn Féin Minister for Justice.
"If that doesn't terrify people in this country, based on their track record and their connections to those people who went out and intentionally murdered members of An Garda Síochána, then nothing will."
Speaking over the weekend, Mr Ó Broin stood over the tweet. He said: "That is what happens in cases of a court-ordered eviction. The tweet is intended as a criticism of Government policy, not the gardaí."
The tweet is expected to be discussed by gardaí and management at the AGSI conference in Galway.
Ronan Cloger, General Secretary of the AGSI, told Newstalk Breakfast that the comments "pitch society against the gardaí.
"Gardaí are citizens too. Many of us gardaí are renters. Many of our membership can’t afford to buy a house. We feel that this tweet is offensive.
"The tweet was a misrepresentation of gardaí in evictions. We have a singular role and that is to attend if that is a breach of the peace."
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