A two-finger gesture by an Irish Parliamentarian has been prominent across social and mainstream media this week.
The politician in question, a highly controversial member of the country's national parliament, subsequently insisted that he meant no offence.
Michael Lowry explained that it was taken out of context, was "not made with malicious intent" and he said it was "not intended to be offensive or to cause offence".
By then, for many people in Ireland, it was too late, and his explanation didn't really matter.