‘It was a jumble of words' says Fianna Fáil TD as Taoiseach Micheál Martin urges calm over comments British Army never shot Irish civilians

Irish Independent

4 days ago

He was reacting to the claim by one of his own ­backbenchers, Cathal Crowe of Co Clare, that British Army troops never shot any civilians in Ireland – for which he has since apologised.
Mr Crowe apologised for his remarks in the Dáil and described them as 'pretty awful'. He has said it wasn't what he wanted to say and isn't how he views things.
The Fianna Fáil TD told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: 'This is not how I view the Irish situation. I was speaking on Gaza, I had bullet points in front of me, not a fully scripted speech.
'A point I wanted to make was in the darkest days of recent Irish history, we never saw the carpet bombing of our cities by the Royal Air Force or anything like that, or the launching of missiles, and I was trying to convey in some way the disproportionality, the horrendous stuff we're seeing day in, day out, the acts of genocide in Gaza.'
He said he statement in the Dáil was a 'jumble of words' and he only realised what he had said later on Wednesday evening when he read back the transcript of his speech.
'I didn't say what I wanted to say, and I unequivocally apologise for the mess I made in those jumble of words. It's not what I meant. I apologise for hurt I've caused and it's not how I see the Irish situation or the many atrocities that the British Army inflicted on people over many, many years including my own family.'
Mr Crowe, a student of history at university who later went on to work as a history teacher, said he studied the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972, when 26 unarmed civilians were shot by British soldiers during a protest in the Bogside area and 14 people died.
'It's a jumble of words and I'm sure you've made mistakes on-air,' he told Morning Ireland presenter Gavin Jennings. 'Show me a person who hasn't made a mistake.'
He added: 'I'm a republican. I'm someone who very much is victim orientated, and this was a jumble of words. It was an absolute bags, or a balls I made of it.'
Mr Martin, who revealed Mr Crowe contacted him to express his regret at embarrassing the Fianna Fáil party, said people should 'calm down'.
Commenting at the Bloom festival, Mr Martin said there has been 'a bit of an over-the-top reaction', in response to Mr Crowe's absolution for the British Army.
'We don't need any lessons in terms of Northern Ireland and the pain and the violence – and yes, the British state was responsible for Bloody Sunday, Ballymurphy, and much, much more,' Mr Martin said.
'I think he was talking in the context of Gaza. Thank God that Gaza never happened in Northern Ireland to the same extent, although one person killed is one person too many.
'As far as I'm concerned, there was horrendous violence in Northern Ireland perpetrated by the State and by the Provisional IRA and by Loyalists like the Glenanne gang.
'There were reprehensible murders, and shocking bombings like Enniskillen, Birmingham, the Dublin-Monaghan bombing, Belturbet, and right across Britain.
'A lot of innocent people were murdered and slaughtered by the IRA. People in Derry and in Ballymurphy were murdered by the British army. We resolved that through a peace process and through reconciliation.
'When I spoke with [US] president [Donald] Trump, and he referred back to the viciousness of what went on in Ireland over 30 years, I made the point to him: We managed to build a peace out of all that vicious violence.
'Peace can work, and the same needs to happen in the Middle East.'
Mr Martin said Mr Crowe had been anxious to correct his remarks after speaking 'off the cuff'.
'Cathal Crowe is a very solid TD and doesn't need to be reprimanded. I think people need to be careful about overreacting here.
'We have a peace process in Ireland that is sustained, and we are at peace with Britain. I'm building reconciliation in Northern Ireland through the Shared Island programme, so there's no need to be re-fighting old wars.'