The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Royston Brady, last night said he made injudicious and intemperate remarks about councillors under the strain of what he perceived to be bad-mouthing surrounding his wedding in December 2003.
Mr Brady prompted an angry reaction from colleagues in Dublin City Council when he described them as being "clowns", "pathetic" and "a waste of space" in the Sunday Times last month.
At the city council last night, Mr Brady opened the meeting by stating that he totally retracted the remarks and asked councillors to accept his regrets. "I admit that under the strain of what I perceived to be mean and malicious bad-mouthing surrounding my wedding, I made injudicious and intemperate remarks which I now regret. I responded in a somewhat inflammatory manner to remarks which I felt were slighting to my wife and me."
He now accepted that in the aftermath he himself slighted councillors of good standing and he regretted that, he said.
He also fully accepted the right of councillors, in good faith, to raise matters which they considered to be of public importance and in the public interest.
Cllr Brady said he trusted this statement would clarify his real appreciation of all the courtesy and assistance which he had received from the city council at all times.
At the end of the statement Cllr Kevin Humphreys, Labour Party group leader, said he welcomed the statement and apology.Sinn Féin group leader, Cllr Christy Burke, said the party accepted the apology.
Also welcoming the retraction of the comments was Cllr Ruairí McGinley, Fine Gael group leader. He said the Lord Mayor could be assured of the co-operation of his group.
Cllr Maurice Ahern, Fianna Fáil group leader, said there should now be a new beginning and the rest should be forgotten.
For the Green Party, Cllr Claire Wheeler said nobody in the council was a joke.