Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has issued a qualified apology for his "break these bastards" comments, but insisted that he was referring to bigots, racists and homophobes and not to all unionists.
Unionist politicians said the remarks were directed at unionists and that Mr Adams was using the notion of equality as a "Trojan horse" political tactic rather than a positive end in itself.
At a public meeting in Enniskillen on Monday night, Mr Adams was asked by an audience member what the DUP “are playing at” in the wake of DUP MP Gregory Campbell’s “curry my yogurt” lampooning of the Irish language .
The audience member also made a comment about bigotry, remarked that the DUP appeared to be “going backways” and asked: “Is there a line in the sand that we say, ‘Look it, there’s no point even trying with these ones because they are dragging the whole thing down’?”
‘Blind bigoted hatred’
Mr Adams, whose response was recorded by
Impartial Reporter
journalist
Rodney Edwards
, said that unionists increasingly weren’t voting because they were “scundered (embarrassed or upset) by the likes of Gregory Campbell”.
He referred to a "blind bigoted hatred of people and not just Catholics, of Presbyterians, of Church of Ireland, of Meth . . . of everybody, bar the people who share their own very narrow vision of the world.
“But what’s the point? The point is to actually break these bastards; that’s the point. And what’s going to break them is equality. That’s what’s going to break them: equality. Who could be afraid of equality?
“Who could be afraid of treating somebody the way you want to be treated. That’s what we need to keep the focus on – that’s the Trojan horse of the entire republican strategy – is to reach out to people on the basis of equality.
Apology
Mr Adams later apologised for using the word “bastards”, and also tweeted: “I shudn’t call bigots, racists or homophobes bastards. Mea culpa.”
DUP Minister for Enterprise Arlene Foster said Mr Adams's "words were not about breaking attitudes but rather about breaking people". His comments were directed at the DUP and its supporters, she said.
“Republicans use the Irish language as a weapon and (on Monday night) Gerry Adams confirms that they view equality as another weapon to attack unionists, or “these b******s” as he would term us,” she said.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Mike Nesbitt said Mr Adams's comments were stunning in their "arrogance and hatred". "Gerry Adams thinks equality is nothing more than a tool to be used to manipulate people like me. That is shocking to the point of nausea."
SDLP MLA Colum Eastwood said equality was a principle, not a tactic. Alliance leader David Ford said the comments were "completely unacceptable" and "only served to create further division and hatred", while Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister said Mr Adams's mask had "slipped again".
