A spokesman for the newspaper said this afternoon: “We can confirm that Kevin Myers will not write again for The Sunday Times Ireland.
“A printed apology will appear in next week’s paper.”
Mr Myers, writing for the Irish edition of the Sunday Times, branded the concept of gender equality “a unicorn” and suggested the reason Claudia Winklemen and Venessa Feltz were among the best-paid BBC presenters was because they were Jewish.
Under the heading “Sorry ladies – equal pay has to be earned” Mr Myers complained about the “tiresome monotone consensus of the commentariat, all wailing and shrieking as one about how hard done by are the women of the BBC”.
On the subject of only one woman appearing in the top 10 best paid BBC presenters, Mr Myers wrote: “Is it because men are more charismatic performers? Because they work harder? Because they are more driven?
“Possibly a bit of each. the human resources department…. will probably tell you that men usually work harder, get sick less frequently andf seldom get pregnant.”
He went on to claim men “tend to be more ambitious; they have that greyback testosterone-powered, hierachy-climbing id that feminised and egalatarian-obsessed legislatures are increasingly trying to legislate against.”
One paragraph, since shared repeatedly online but taken down with the rest of the comment piece from the Times website, focuses on BBC stars Ms Winkleman and Ms Feltz and the fact both women are Jewish.
The article has since been removed from the newspaper’s website, but not before Twitter users had taken screen shots of the article.
The Sunday Times has released statements from both Sunday Times editor Martin Ivens and Irish editor Frank Fitzgibbons apologising for publishing Mr Myers’ column.
Mr Ivens said: “The comments in column by Kevin Myers in today’s Irish edition of the Sunday Times were unacceptable and should not have been published.
“It has been taken down and we sincerely apologise both for the remarks and the rror of judgement that led to its publication.”
Mr Fitzgibbons said: “On behalf of the Sunday Times I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused by comments in a column written by Kevin Myers and published today in the Ireland edition of the Sunday Times.
“It contained views that have caused considerable distress and upset to to a number of people.
“As the editor of the Ireland edition I take full responsibility for this error of judgement. This newspaper abhors anti-Semitism and did not intend to cause offence to the Jewish people.”
Mr Myers’ name soon became a top trending topic on Twitter, where he was remorsely lampooned and criticised for his views.
Writer and presenter Emma Kennedy tweeted: “It’s not often I’m rendered speechless but that Kevin Myers column has me agog. What a ****.”
She added: “I’d be interested to know why the @SunTimesIreland continued to employ Kevin Myers after this.”
@DanielHarris tweeted: “Kevin Myers of the actual Times of London, complete with Nazi terminology. Reassuring to see we’ve moved on from the old antisemitic tropes.”
@Josefoshea said: “A little light anti-Semitism from local loon Kevin Myers in the Sunday Times today.”
Columnist Marina Hyde also expressed her view online. She said: “Amazed this disgrace made it into the paper. But instructive that it did.”
Others branded Mr Myers “a disgrace” and called for him to be sacked.
The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has complained to the Sunday Times about Mr Myers’ column.
A statement on the CAA’s website accused the columnist and the paper of “deploying an antisemitic trope about Jews and money”.
“It is clear that Kevin Myers should not have been invited to write for the Sunday Times, and his editors should never have allowed the article to be published,” the CAA said.
“That they removed the article within hours of publishing it is proof that the decision was irrefutably wrong.
“Rather than moving swiftly on, we now expect the Sunday Times to investigate how this happened, to hold the editor responsible and the columnist to account, and to publish a high-profile and clear apology.”
Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism added: “This was an utterly vile column which deployed well-worn antisemitic tropes about Jews.
“The fulsome apologies from the editorial team at the Sunday Times are welcome, but Kevin Myers is a serial offender who should never have been given an inch of column space in the first place.
“This must be the end of Kevin Myers’ notorious journalistic career and News UK must now confirm that they will never again allow him to write for any of their titles.”
