Donegal-based Senator Niall Blaney has strongly accused the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party of not supporting his EU election efforts.
Blaney is one of three Fianna Fáil candidates in the Midlands-North West constituency in the running, along with Barry Cowen and Lisa Chambers.
The Senator raised those concerns publically at an astonishing news conference on Friday, where he directly accused Tanaiste Michael Martin of not giving his campaign the support Blaney felt it merited.
“Unfortunately I’m not getting the same support as other candidates are getting in this campaign, and that’s a problem for me, it has been for weeks.”
“I’ve never had any opportunity (to appear) on national television yet, I’m the only candidate of six (for whom) that has been the case, and that’s not just about me, that’s about the people I represent.”
“If the Tanaiste goes to canvas with candidates, he goes with all three, and if he goes to do videos with one candidate, (he has) to do for all three.”
Michael Martin had to defuse the situation, telling the press and Mr Blaney that he was “…not getting into a public discussion on the logistics of a campaign at a press conference”.
