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CHILDREN’S MINISTER RODERIC O’Gorman has described a viral video of Green Party leader Eamon Ryan asleep in the Dáil as “a moment of human frailty”.

Footage taken from inside the Convention Centre last night showed Ryan sleeping as he was called on to vote during a motion on giving lower paid workers a living wage.

In the video, captured by Oireachtas TV cameras, Ryan’s name is heard being called a number of times, before Chief Whip Jack Chambers is seen attempting to get his attention.

The incident has since gone viral, and led to online criticism of Ryan for sleeping on the job.

But his party colleague played down the incident today, while acknowledging that Ryan did not cover himself in glory.

“I think there’s a moment of human frailty there from Eamon. It shouldn’t have happened and he acknowledged as much himself,” Roderic O’Gorman said.