The deputy leader of Sinn Féin says she is not embarrassed by continuing attention to the party leader's Twitter account and his teddy bears.

In an interview on national radio this morning, Gerry Adams again apologised for his use of a racial slur in a tweet earlier this week.

He also went on to talk about his teddy bears - including how some of them were engaged to each other - and his collection of rubber ducks.

Mary Lou McDonald says political leaders should have a sense of humour.

"I'd be much more embarrassed if I had to stand here on the Plinth and defend a system that took discretionary medical cards from a child so disabled that they're fed through tubes," she told reporters.