Comedian and talk show host Tommy Tiernan has lost a sponsorship with the taxi app FreeNow over a controversial joke he made recently at a show.

The company, which said it was "disappointed" by Mr Tiernan's comments, indicated that his views were inconsistent with that of FreeNow, the Sunday Independent reported.

The comedian received significant backlash over the racist joke, which he has since apologised for and removed from the set.

In a statement, the company said: “As a recent sponsor of The Tommy Tiernan Show on RTÉ, we were disappointed about the comments made at his Vicar Street gig regarding taxi drivers.

“Free Now works in close partnership with taxi drivers throughout the country to provide an important transport service for passengers across Ireland.

“Prejudice of any kind towards taxi drivers is unacceptable. We decided to conclude our sponsorship of the show last week but will continue to work with RTÉ on other projects going forward.”

Apology

RTÉ presenter and activist Emer O'Neill was at the Vicar Street show when Mr Tiernan told the racist joke and she decided to walk out.

She posted about the incident on Instagram saying that “a night that was to be fun and full of laughter turned sour with a way too close to the bone joke”.

Tiernan has since contacted Emer to apologise for the joke. The pair spoke in depth over the phone and he has removed the joke from his show.

"It was like my Irishness was taken away from me."

On Newstalk Breakfast this week, Emer said she “absolutely” accepts the apology – but warned that the whole incident highlights how racism remains deeply engrained in Irish society.

“It was one of those moments where I was thinking, ‘oh let the ground swallow me up here,’” she said.

“I was the only person of colour in the whole room, so, in that moment, it was like my Irishness was taken away from me. I was now just a black African with my afro.

“As people will do, they were kind of looking to see what the reaction of the person who is brown or black in the room is.

“There was a lot of people staring at me so it was really uncomfortable in a load of different ways.”

Main image shows Tommy Tiernan performing during the Teenage Cancer Trust comedy night at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Picture by: Matt Crossick/Empics