A float in the Spiddal parade which poked fun at the destruction of the Lidl supermarket

A publiv apology has been demanded from the organisers of St Patrick's Day parades that contained floats mocking the robbery and destruction of a supermarket in Tallaght.

Pictures have emerged from at least three parades over the weekend that included a depiction of the Lidl raid at Fortunestown on February 28 during the status red blizzard.

During the incident a digger was used to destroy almost the entire building.

Lidl saw the humorous side of the floats and posted a poll on social media asking its followers to rate the best one.

However, Tallaght councillor Louise Dunne hit out at the floats as "discriminatory" and said they glorified the events of the night.

She told the Herald she was especially offended by a float containing the poster "the Tallaght thugs".

stereotype The Sinn Fein representative said she was working to identify whether any of the floats were supported by public funding, adding that they fed into a negative stereotype of the west Dublin area.

"I think they were very conscious of what they were doing," she said.

"It's not just me, there were pictures posted on social media with people from the area saying they didn't find them funny.

"I'm disgusted that this was allowed to happen."

Ms Dunne said one of the floats seemed to have been on show in Spiddal, Co Galway, while another was somewhere in Mayo.

"I will be looking for a public apology from the parades committees, if there was one, who allowed these to be shown," she said.

She added that she has a sense of humour, but it was "just not OK" to allow the floats.

Earlier this month, nine men appeared in court charged in connection with the looting, which attracted headlines worldwide.