Controversial Cork comedian Ross Browne was the subject of public outrage last night after he stuck his middle finger up at Taoiseach Enda Kenny while pretending to be a sign language interpreter, writes Kelly O’Brien.

Browne, who has pulled pranks on public figures in the past, carried out the skit in front of more than 300 people who had gathered at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs to hear Mr Kenny, and other members of the Government, discuss Brexit.

When the Taoiseach began to speak on the issue, Browne stood up, faced the crowd and began to make a series of gestures which, at first, mimicked sign language.

Those gathered only began to realise what was going on when Browne’s hand gestures started to become increasingly crude.

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At one point, the comedian extending his middle finger at the Taoiseach — he even made lewd gestures.

Security approached Browne, who appeared to accept that he was being shut down, and grabbed his coat as if to leave.

However, the comedian then proceeded to put his coat on halfway and twirl around a number of times, directly in front of the Taoiseach, pretending he was unable to get his coat on fully.

While the Taoiseach appeared to laugh at the interruption, asking Browne if he was having a problem with his coat, the public were not so forgiving.

The crowd began shouting at Browne, calling for security to get him off the premises. He was eventually assisted in leaving the venue, but not before shouting out: “I’m not paying for my water anyway.”

Innishannon man John O’Sullivan, who had been sitting in the front row directly in front of Browne, said he thought the display was “a disgrace” and said it was a total and utter insult to deaf people and, indeed, to anyone suffering from a disability to be mocked in such a fashion.

“I am somebody that was paralysed by polio and I know what it is to have a disability. And for someone to come up here and mimic that… it’s an insult to anybody who has a disability of any kind,” he said.

While Browne’s display was the most disruptive of the night, a number of people took the opportunity to heckle the Taoiseach, shouting expletives at him.

Unfazed, Mr Kenny carried on with the event, endured 13 individual interruptions, and fielded questions about Brexit, the border with Northern Ireland, and the healthcare system, among others.

This story first appeared in the Evening Echo.