Fine Gael is standing behind Louth candidate John McGahon, Taoiseach and party leader Simon Harris has said, after a man injured in an incident involving the Senator questioned why he had been selected to run in the general election.
Mr McGahon was found not guilty in a criminal trail arising from the incident, which happened outside a pub in Dundalk in 2018, but Breen White, a farmer from Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, sued him in the High Court for assault and battery.
Mr McGahon denied the claims and said he was assaulted and acted in self-defence. The jury in the High Court case found that Mr White had been assaulted and awarded a total of €60,000 including €10,000 for aggravated damages. Mr Justice Alexander Owens gave a decree for €39,000 against Mr McGahon.
Mr White was interviewed in The Sunday Times this weekend and said he believed Mr Harris would not have picked Mr McGahon had he seen his face after the encounter.
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Asked about Mr White’s comments as he launched his party’s manifesto in Co Tipperary on Sunday, Mr Harris said Fine Gael would continue to canvass for Mr McGahon.
“These matters were all examined in a court of law. A jury sat in Louth. A jury looked at the CCTV, a jury looked at images. A defence was put forward, a defence of self-defence was put forward, and a jury found him not guilty,” he added.
After the High Court case Mr Harris said he was “happy for John to seek a nomination from the members of Louth Fine Gael”, but that what had happened was “unacceptable”. However, he said he was satisfied that Mr McGahon was remorseful and that he had given an undertaking that such an incident would not happen again.
Speaking on Sunday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald questioned Fine Gael’s decision to keep Mr McGahon on the ticket. She said the pictures she saw “were not the evidence of a scuffle, which is how Simon Harris has described the incident”.
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he believed it was a “serious” situation and “a matter for Fine Gael”.
Fine Gael deputy leader and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee on Sunday told RTÉ's This Week programme that she backed Mr McGahon. She said the matter had been dealt with by the courts and her party colleague had claimed he acted in self-defence.
Speaking at the launch of her party’s manifesto, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the pictures of Mr White’s injuries were “shocking”.
“I do think Fine Gael have questions to answer about their self-identification as the party of law and order,” she said.
Ms Bacik this was “rather undermined if they are seeking to stand by or actively promote somebody who was engaging in the sort of behaviour that leads to those awful, shocking injuries”.
Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash, a TD for Louth, said it was “a matter for Fine Gael” and that he looked forward to seeing the party deal with it.
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