TD Willie O’Dea lashes out at Johnny Depp over his Limerick comments

Long-serving Limerick TD Willie O'Dea has lashed out at Johnny Depp after the Hollywood actor referred to Limerick as "Stab City" in a new book.

Writing the foreword for a book titled 'In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story,' Depp referred to a night he spent with Conlon in the Treaty City back in 1991.

“Our brief pit stop proved to be one of the most chaotic nights that I ever remember," he wrote. "Suffice to say we conquered Stab City."

Fianna Fáil TD O'Dea has taken issue with Depp's use of the unsavoury nickname and taken him to task on it. In comments made to the Irish Sun, O'Dea said:

"Johnny Depp is speaking from the depths of his ignorance here, talking as if Limerick is somewhere to be conquered. "People think twice about labelling an individual, but you seem to be able to get away with labelling a whole city of people."

O'Dea made similar remarks to the Independent, saying, "Not only was Stab City the wrong designation in 1991 but in 2017 it is so out-of-date it is laughable. It's a libel on a city." The TD of 35 years has extended an invitation for Johnny Depp to return to the city and get a true sense of Limerick. We'd like to see how that plays out.