ALAN KELLY HAS said it’s not a bad thing that he got emotional during last night’s meeting of the Labour parliamentary party.
The Environment Minister was speaking after it emerged last night that he became emotional and even tearful as he insisted to Labour colleagues that he did not leak internal polling suggesting the party could lose up to 20 Dáil seats.
Kelly would not be drawn on exactly what happened at the meeting last night, saying it was a private meeting of the Labour parliamentary party.
But he told reporters in Dublin today:
I don’t think necessarily, if somebody got emotional during a meeting, that that’s particularly a bad thing. I think that actually shows a certain level of spirit and interest in the topic.
Addressing his parliamentary colleagues for around two minutes at the weekly meeting in Leinster House, Kelly said he was upset that some of them believed he was behind the leak.
“He paused, he was silent for a long period, he took a glass of water, he showed emotion, he’s human,” said one source.
Another source at the meeting said that the minister was visibly upset and shed some tears during the pause in his brief address.
Speaking today, Kelly said he expected Labour to “rise substantially” in the polls in the lead-up to the next election. The party has risen two points to 9% in the latest Red C poll for Paddy Power.
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