An Oireachtas committee sitting has been abandoned after a row over recent comments made by a Sinn Féin TD.
Martin Browne told Tipp FM the party must stop apologising for IRA acts, and said he had called to the houses of party members to discuss their social media posts about Sinn Féin.
It comes after a party member resigned when someone called to her house to ask her to take down tweets critical of TD Brian Stanley.
The Public Petitions Committee today had to adjourn when Deputy Browne - the committee's chair - declined to address the issue.
Brendan Griffin and other Fine Gael TDs, meanwhile, said they wouldn't continue until he did.
The committee votes to continue in public session. As Martin Browne still didn't want to address the issue the committee has been adjourned and the rest of its business can't go ahead
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) December 10, 2020
Deputy Griffin asked: "As [you're the] chairman of this committee, I wonder will you take the opportunity now to explain those comments?
"They've cost an awful lot of hurt and upset to many people."
Deputy Browne responded: "Listen to the actual interview, and come back to it. Don't attribute comments that have appeared on print media.
"As I said, it isn't on the agenda, and I'm going to move on now."
Fine Gael's Eoghan Murphy argued there was a 'serious question' around the work of the committee following the remarks, and urged the chairman to repeat what he said on radio to the committee members.
He claimed that discussing the issue in private rather than public session would 'feel like censorship'.
Deputy Browne, however, insisted he will be an impartial chair of the committee - and said the committee meeting 'wasn't the forum' for the issue.
'Disappointing behaviour'
In a follow-up statement this afternoon, Deputy Browne said the behaviour of Fine Gael at the meeting was "very disappointing".
Statement in from Sinn Féin’s Martin Browne on the Petitions Committee adjournment and his Tipp FM interview pic.twitter.com/QkNPbxSD4A
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) December 10, 2020
He said: "They used a media interview I carried out on TippFM earlier this week to disrupt the meeting."
Today's row comes amid the ongoing controversy over past remarks made by Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley.
Deputy Stanley is due to make a 'full personal statement' to the Dáil next week.
Deputy Browne said he made it clear in his recent interview that he "fully supports" his party colleague making that statement in the Dáil.
