A group representing Ireland's Jewish community has come to the defence of Kevin Myers.

The columnist has been fired from his role at The Sunday Times over comments that were branded anti-Semitic by many, including the Taoiseach.

But the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland says branding the writer an anti-Semite is a "distortion of the facts".

In a statement, the council says his comments about two Jewish BBC presenters were "a real error of judgement".

But the it says Kevin Myers is not an anti-Semite, and has praised him for writing columns about the Holocaust over the last three decades.

The article referred to two female BBC presenters - Vanessa Feltz and Claudia Winkleman.

Speaking on her radio show today, Ms Feltz today said the piece was "so obviously racist it's surprisingly hurtful".

The Taoiseach earlier said the column was "misogynistic and anti-Semitic".

Leo Varadkar has criticised the column, adding that he believes "The Sunday Times has taken the appropriate action" in response to the controversy.