We thought it was all going to go to blows in the Dáil on Tuesday afternoon as Leaders’ Questions led to discussion about the eviction in Roscommon.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty were at each other’s necks on the matter.
Varadkar criticised the TD for not condemning the group who had attended the eviction order “armed with baseball bats [who] injured three or four other people, set cars alight and caused an animal to be shot dead”.
The Taoiseach then came out with a statement that brought the Dáil to its knees:
Aimed at Doherty and his party, Varadkar said that: “When it comes to law and order, It doesn’t take very long for your balaclava to slip.”
The leas-Ceann Comhairle Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher was forced to control the shouting match that ensured and eventually told both parties to sit down and be quiet.
Doherty asked for the comments to be removed completely from Dáil record and Gallagher said that the conversation transcript would be checked in due course.
“When it comes to Sinn Féin and the rule of law…. it doesn’t take long for your balaclava to slip”.
Feisty exchange between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar & Sinn Fein’s @PearseDoherty in the Dáil over the Roscommon eviction. pic.twitter.com/14qguo0vWV
— Darran Marshall (@DarranMarshall) December 18, 2018
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