Irish republican Gerry Adams tweets N-word in Django Unchained outburst

Backlash: The republican compared the struggle against slavery in the US with the plight of Irish nationalists
Brian Lawless / PA Wire
Sebastian Mann2 May 2016
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Irish politician Gerry Adams has defended his use of the N-word in a tweet about slavery film Django Unchained.

The Sinn Fein president sparked fury with the comments, in which he compared the struggle against slavery in the US to the plight of Irish nationalists.

The offending tweet about the Oscar-winning Quentin Tarantino film appeared on his profile late on Sunday night.

It said: "Watching Django Unchained - A Ballymurphy N*****!"

The post was swiftly removed following an immediate backlash.

But Mr Adams insisted he had been misunderstood by those who had taken offence at his use of the term.

In a statement, he said attempts to suggest he was a racist were "without credibility".

He said: "I am opposed to racism and have been all my life.

"The fact is that nationalists in the north, including those from Ballymurphy, were treated in much the same way as African Americans until we stood up for ourselves.

"If anyone is genuinely offended by my use of the N-word they misunderstand or misrepresent the context in which it was used. For this reason I deleted the tweets."

Mr Adams said that anyone who had seen the film, which stars Jamie Foxx as the emancipated protagonist, Django, and Christoph Waltz as his ally, and was familiar with the plight of nationalists in the north until recently "would understand the tweet was not meant to insult".

"My tweets about the film and the use of the N-word were ironic and not intended to cause any offence whatsoever," he said.

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