A newspaper column which criticised the appearance of a number of Fianna Fáil politicians has been described as 'deplorable' by a party member.
The Irish Mail On Sunday article, written by Niamh Walsh, was also described as "nasty" by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
The piece criticised the clothes and grooming of eight politicians who attended the party's think-in last week.
Senator Erin McGreehan, who was named in the article, told Newstalk Breakfast it served no purpose but to put people down.
"I was really upset, I'm not going to lie, because it is upsetting to see you ridiculed, bullied, demeaned on print media on a national newspaper.
"To see my colleagues, my friends and people I have known for years put down, demeaned in such corrosive language - yeah I was really upset.
"I went from upset to being angry, and kind of angry that I was upset."
She says they were there to work, not to pose for cameras.
"Deplorable - it's such horrible language and there is no need for that.
"We went to that think-in with so much more on our minds; we all got into our cars, drove for hours and got to Cavan to work.
"So our dress wasn't something that I thought that might have been ridiculed - maybe our party politics I thought that might have been ridiculed - but not our dress sense, not our weight, not our look, not our hair.
"There's no need for that type of bullying and it's unacceptable.
"And to put down any other human in such a corrosive way is wrong."
I don’t know what is wrong with another human being that they could be so blatantly horrible to another human being.I am very upset by this.I’m not going to pretend words don’t matter.they do.words & actions & attitude are everything& it is how people should be judged. pic.twitter.com/Y9J5s1rscm
— Senator Erin McGreehan (@ErinMcGreehan) September 12, 2021
Responding to some of the language in the article, Senator McGreehan says it adds nothing.
"Words matter if you want to be taken seriously, and I would ask: what added value did her words give to the Fianna Fáil think-in last week?
"There was no added value, only a put down of eight people who were there to work.
"We weren't there for a fashion column".
