Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Imagine that. It might not be on the record but the journalists heard her say it. I will take no lessons on slíbhínism from a party with such a murky past and which is still involved with that past. It is a party that is denying that it did not want to be in government and now its leader wants to be total leader of the Opposition. None of us in the Rural Independent Group, the Regional Group or the Social Democrats has any voice. That is the diktat of the unelected leader of Sinn Féin. I do not know of any democracy in Europe that has appointed leaders, but we have one in the North and the South.

If Deputy McDonald thinks I am a Member under her wing and I will bow and kowtow to her, she is mistaken. What she said was a disgraceful rebuff and if I said it, I would have the Me Too brigade down on me. Deputy McDonald said it and I expect an apology. She said it and she was heard saying it.

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