Updated 2.25pm
LUCINDA CREIGHTON HAS hit out at other parties who she believes are trying to smear her character and integrity with a complaint to the political standards watchdog.
Creighton was addressing questions about stories in the Sunday Independent the last two weekends regarding an anonymous complaint to the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).
The complaint alleged that the Renua leader received a ‘benefit in kind’ in the paying of legal fees following a High Court defamation case taken against her four years ago. A complaint relating to the same matter was rejected by the commission last year.
Creighton produced a legal letter to the Sunday Independent which she said clarifies the matter.
Speaking to reporters today, she explained: “The legal letter is definitive. The legal letter from my solicitor states very clearly that I was invoiced for my legal fees and I paid them.
“No evidence has been furnished to Sipo and, as far as I’m aware, in this country we have a presumption of innocence until somebody is proven guilty.
Now no evidence has been furnished. Sipo have sent me a letter to that effect, that has been passed on to the Sunday Independent and there’s really not a whole lot more to say about it.
She said the fact the “exact same complaint” as the one thrown out last year was lodged with Sipo two days after the election was called was “malicious”.
Asked if she believed Fine Gael is behind the complaint, Creighton said she would not get into speculation about it, but added: ”I know who’s behind it, but I’m just not going there today. We’re focussing on our positive campaign.
Other parties are trying to detract and introduce negativity and are trying to smear my character and my integrity. I think it’s really unfortunate, I don’t believe it’s working.
She was speaking as Renua launched its latest election poster pitching Creighton as a ‘watchdog’ of a Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil coalition.
Creighton warned today that the increasing possibility of a Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil government would lead to “boom and bust” policies.
She said the party wants to be part of the next government, saying it’s “impossible to influence the direction of the country from opposition”.
The Dublin Bay South TD said Renua, which is running 26 candidates, is targeting 10 Dáil seats but would not drawn on how many will be enough to enter government.
I can’t have a figure. How can I have a figure when I don’t know what the composition of the other parties is going to be? It very much depends on how people vote on Friday.
Creighton said Renua would “act as a watchdog against spending splurges and property bubble policies”.
Renua Ireland does not believe our economic recovery is sustainable relying on the old diet of property and foreign direct investment, a diet that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have gorged themselves on for the past 15 years.
Creighton said that Friday’s election would be “make or break” for the party. Today’s Ipsos MRBI poll in the Irish Times puts Renua on 2%.
A Millward Brown poll in yesterday’s Sunday Independent showed that Creighton’s popularity rating has more than doubled to 30%.
“This is really important election for the party, of course. We want and we expect to make inroads and we’ve set a target of 10 seats,” she said.
“I hope we achieve it, I think it’s possible. There is momentum behind the party and we’re working extremely hard.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say