Councillor blames 'feminazis' for demise of page three models

Dr Keith Redmond, who was elected to serve on Fingal County Council, waded into the debate over glamour models posing in newspapers.

It followed the revelation that British tabloid The Sun would no longer show topless models.

"Good work feminazis, you just made lots of fellow women unemployed because their work offended you," Dr Redmond wrote on Twitter.

The post was met with angry comments, with some people particularly offended by the use of the term 'feminazis', with Mr Redmond responding, "I can't stand the sanctimonious".

When the Herald tried to contact Dr Redmond to discuss his views on the issue he failed to answer calls and messages.

He later deleted the 'feminazi' post wrote: "Re earlier tweet. Apologies. Deleted."

A spokesperson for Fine Gael said that Dr Redmond was speaking in a personal capacity.

Personal

"What we are saying is it is not a Fine Gael opinion, it's a personal comment," a spokesperson from the press office said.

A number of Page 3 models have gone on to become well-known figures, such as Katie Price, aka Jordan, and Kelly Brook.

Claire Tully was the only Irish woman to feature as a Page 3 model in Britain.

Dr Redmond was on a list of potential candidates to run for Fine Gael in Dublin north in the next General Election.

A competitor for the constituency ticket is his party colleague Stephanie Regan, who last night defended Dr Redmond but said that his comment was unwise.

"I have never found him in any way to be chauvinistic, quite the opposite," she said.

Ms Regan conjectured that he was "very pro-freedom of speech" and probably saw the situation as that of a group getting something they didn't like quashed.

But she said that the comment was "probably unwise" and that many women would not like him for it.

"It doesn't look good and I don't think people will respond very well," she added.

Ms Regan also disagreed with his viewpoint.

hnews@herald.ie