DAIL IT DOWN MARY
SF chief bizarrely accused of ‘disrespect’ over mesh top
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MARY Lou Mcdonald was accused of being “disrespectful” in the Dail for wearing a mesh top in a bizarre dressing down sent to the Ceann Comhairle.
The Sinn Fein leader wore the floral print net garment with a white T-shirt underneath and paired it with a black blazer on October 11 last year.
She also sported a pair of redframed glasses with pendant earrings while blasting the Government about the Budget they announced the day beforehand.
But the Deputy’s ensemble seemed to be too much for one furious person who decided to write a complaint email to Ceann Comhairle Sean O Fearghail demanding that a dress code be introduced.
The email was not sent by a fellow TD and had to be from a member of the public.
The person declared they did not want to see Ms Mcdonald “carrying on like this and be allowed get away with it”.
DISGRACE
The letter, which was obtained by the Irish Mirror through a Freedom of Information request, said: “I think Mary Lou Mcdonald’s top is a disgrace today, Wed.
“I don’t know what she wore before as I didn’t look. I believe she chose it deliberately as she knew the camera would be directed on her today and she wanted to tease.
“There is a shyness about commenting on women’s clothes and she is taking advantage of this. But it must be commented on.
“It is disrespectful and it shows she has no respect for her audience or her place of work.”
The complainant described the top as a “contraption” and incorrectly stated a white T-shirt visible through the mesh top was the deputy’s bra.
They continued: “It is see-through anyway. You can see a bra inside a top that has visibility in it.
“The bra inside this mad top is all you can see. Such a horrible sight. Or maybe the bra is attached to the top or whatever it is.”
The peculiar complaint insisted Ms Mcdonald “must wear something that does not annoy spectators”.
The email added: “There must be a dress for TDS in the Dail which must state that clothing has to be respectable.”
Another complained about disparaging comments that were made about the Irish soccer player Robbie
Keane. The email said his
I believe she wore it deliberately as she knew camera would be on her
LETTER OF COMPLAINT MARY LOU MCDONALD
name had been mentioned in two Dail speeches due to his role with the Israeli soccer club Maccabi Tel Aviv and suggestions of “sports washing”.
The complaint said: “I consider the … statements to be an attack on the reputation and character of a private citizen who was not present to defend himself.
“That the citizen has provided huge pleasure makes the attacks particularly reprehensible.”
Other complaints filed with the Ceann Comhairle included one about Ireland’s involvement in international plans for pandemic preparedness, the erosion of human rights in the North and the level of criticism of Israel by some parliamentarians.
The aggressive questioning of staff from the Environmental Protection Agency at a committee hearing over the contribution of agriculture to river pollution was also raised in two separate complaints.
One email said: “What happened was not serious, robust probing.
“It was a performative hatchet job to undermine and discredit the work of the EPA and the very many highly professional staff that work there.
“Despite the passive aggression and downright rudeness, the three experts were unflappable.” The Oireachtas also withheld four complaints made by TDS directly to the Ceann Comhairle.
They claimed these were “private papers” and exempt from release under FOI using legislation that was originally designed to protect whistleblowers.
Access to a copy of a further complaint from a serving member of An Garda was also refused as it contained personal details.
A spokeswoman for the Oireachtas said they had nothing further to add.
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