GE2024 controversiesTHE TAOISEACH HAS insisted his party has not been forced on to the back foot by controversies that have emerged during the election campaign.
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris was asked whether scrutiny of Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s comments about teachers at a party event and a furore over the candidature of senator John McGahon had stalled momentum.
O’Leary faced criticism for saying he would not hire teachers to “get things done” at a Fine Gael candidate launch event at the start of the campaign. The remark drew laughs from the gathered Fine Gael faithful – something that was highlighted by rival parties.
In recent days, other parties have also called on Harris to distance himself from Co Louth election candidate McGahon.
McGahon, a Fine Gael senator, was found not guilty of assaulting a man outside a Dundalk nightclub in a criminal case two years ago but a High Court civil action earlier this year found him liable, with McGahon ordered to pay damages.
He was found 65% liable and ordered to pay €39,000 for his role in the incident in 2018.
A photograph of the complainant’s injuries was printed in a Sunday newspaper while footage of the altercation has been circulating on social media.
Canvassing in Co Roscommon yesterday, Harris was asked whether the issues had pushed him and his party on to the back foot.
“I don’t think that at all,” he replied. “I’m really enjoying this campaign to be quite honest, (I am) getting a lot of energy from talking to people across the country and hearing people very responsive.”
He added that the main topics that people are bringing up on the campaign trail focus more on housing, the cost of living, small businesses, farm viability and rural regeneration.
“So the real issues, the bread and butter, I suppose, are issues of this election campaign, and I’m looking forward to continuing those conversations,” he said, adding that he welcomed being asked about McGahon during the first televised debate on Monday.
He said the questioning gave him an opportunity to tell voters that McGahon would not be a Fine Gael candidate if he were criminally convicted.
Harris added: “He put forward a defence of self-defence, that was accepted by a jury of 12 men and women, and he was acquitted of the criminal charge.
“He paid, quite rightly, a hefty financial penalty in a civil court. I think that’s appropriate. He was democratically selected to contest the election in Louth and now it will ultimately be up to the people of Louth to decide who they wish to represent them.”
On the campaign in Co Cavan, Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin expressed surprise that Fine Gael continued to stand by the candidacy of McGahon, telling reporters that he thought footage – circulated on social media – was “shocking”.
“The victim here did suffer severe facial injuries, as we have seen now from the photographs that are going round,” he said.
Speaking at an environmental policy launch event in Dublin, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said: “I think the Taoiseach has questions to answer about the ongoing candidacy of somebody who has been found civilly liable of contributing significantly to very serious injuries that we saw only for the first time disclosed on Sunday.”
Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said he was “disappointed” that Harris had sought to “defend” McGahon during the RTE debate.
“It really is sending out the wrong message, I think, to people in this country in relation to violence,” he said. “I am calling on the Taoiseach to stop that defence of that candidate and at this stage Fine Gael should be withdrawing that candidate.”
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