Sinn Féin TD, David Cullinane, has deleted a tweet where he described the Scottish Supreme Court ruling confirming that the definition of woman is based on biological sex, as a “common sense judgement”.
He also apologised on X for posting his original tweet saying “I want to apologise for the hurt and offence that I have caused to the Trans community following a tweet I sent last night. That was never my intention. This is a complex issue for many but we need to approach it with compassion, understanding and dignity for all.”
The Scottish Supreme Court ruling was widely welcomed yesterday after Judge Lord Hodge told the court: “The unanimous decision of this court is that the definition of the terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex” adding that the “concept of sex is binary” under the Act .
The judgment “was hailed as a victory for common sense by gender-critical campaigners and politicians, with JK Rowling saying it would protect “the rights of women and girls across the UK”,” the Telegraph reported, while Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party , said the ruling meant that the “era of Keir Starmer telling us women can have penises has come to an end”.
In Ireland, women’s groups, civil society groups, political parties such as Aontú and Independent Ireland, and other Independent TDs, also expressed strong support for the ruling – and called for similar stance in this country in support of women’s rights and safety.
Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson, David Cullinane, also at first seemed supportive of the ruling. However, after being targeted by critics online, he deleted his post and made this apology.
He added: “I’m sure those in the Trans community will feel vulnerable and isolated today in the aftermath of yesterday’s judgement, and I apologise that my words added to that.”
However, his critics continued to castigate Cullinane for making his first statement – including Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger who said that it was “good to have an apology but the instinctive tweet is worrying. How could a health spokesperson not be mindful & keenly aware of health of trans & intersex people?”
Others online strongly disagreed and said the Sinn Féin spokesperson should not have apologised – and that they believed he was “bullied to take it back & apologise”.
“Sex is based in biological reality. Your sorrow for the trans community is not balanced by objective assessment of the harms caused to women in Irish prisons, domestic violence refuges, sports, & the unconscionable harm done to 100s of vulnerable Irish children sent to Tavistock,” wrote another commentator.
While another posted:
As a result of the controversy, the Trans and Intersex Pride march said they were banning Sinn Féin from their July event following David Cullinane’s comments.
On Wednesday, the Sinn Féin TD posted on Twitter in response to the UK Supreme Court ruling which found that the terms “woman” and” sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin said, “while he has since walked back his remarks, he did not say whether he still believes it should be looked at in the state, and shows the instinct and insensitivity to attack the community by a health spokesperson.”
“We have welcomed the decision by different Prides in the North to ban all Northern executive parties who signed off on the banning of puberty blockers. This pride season has to be a protest against parties who are happily attacking the trans community, and the banning of executive parties is a step forward in the fight against transphobia.”
“In response to the statement by David Cullinane, along with the banning of Puberty blockers, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin asks Mary Lou McDonald to clarify her party’s position, whether the ruling should be looked at north and south, and calls for the reversal of the puberty blocker ban,” they said.
“[S]hould this not happen, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin has came to the decision that Sinn Féin will be banned from attending our march in July. This decision is made in solidarity with trans people up north, and to avoid the party’s pinkwashing of their record in the south,” they said.