Candidates in expenses spat

TWO candidates who ran in the Dublin West by-election
last year are engaged in a bitter war of words over campaign expenses.

The election’s highest spender, Cllr David McGuinness
(FF), came under fire last week from Sinn Fein candidate Paul Donnelly who
accused his rival of failing to detail what his

?¬33,905 in expenses was spent
on.

According to Mr Donnelly, the lack of a detailed
disclosure of expenses in a report released by the Standards in Public Office
Commission harped back to Fianna Fail’s days of old.

“I find it laughable when Mr McGuinness tries to
portray himself as a member of a new type of Fianna Fáil,

? he stated.

“When you examine his recent by-election expense
returns, reality hits home. This is the Fianna Fáil we are all accustomed to
where side-stepping and obfuscation are the order of the day.

“What has he got to hide? I challenge him to put a
detailed breakdown of his election expenses on the record.

“The electorate deserve better from people who run for
public office.

?

However, Cllr McGuinness, who came second in the
by-election, retaliated by questioning how a Sinn Fein representative was in a
position to criticise.

He also challenged Mr Donnelly to make clear just what
he was implying by his statement.

“My returns for the by-election are entirely in line
with SIPO (Standards in Public Office) requirements and SIPO has raised no
issue of concern with me.

“If Paul Donnelly has information that would suggest
that I have in some way broken the law, I would be happy for him to publish it
and I will deal with it then.

?

He added:

“I will not be taking any lectures from Sinn
Féin, of all parties, on the issue of political funding and election spending.

?

The verbal spat between the pair was sparked when
figures were released last week showing that four candidates in last year’s
Dublin West by-election spent a total of over

?¬143,000 on their campaigns.

The by-election was held last November to fill the
vacant seat following the death of Brian Lenihan.

Fine Gael’s Eithne Loftus, who came fourth, incurred
the second highest spend of

?¬31,073 while Ruth Coppinger (SP) had the third highest
spend of

?¬28,454,

The winner of the by-election, Patrick Nulty, was the
fourth highest spender at

?¬26,739.

Three of the 13 candidates who ran in the by-election
disclosed that they had received donations valued in excess of

?¬634.

Cllr Ruth Coppinger disclosed the largest donation of

?¬15,693, while John Frank Kidd, who ran as an Independent, received a donation
of

?¬5,000. Another Independent candidate, Brendan Patrick Davis, received a
donation of

?¬1,914.

A total of

?¬47,333 will be reimbursed by the Exchequer
to six candidates who reached the required threshold of votes.

Four candidates – Patrick Nulty, Ruth Coppinger, David
McGuinness and Eithne Loftus – qualify for the maximum reimbursement of

?¬8,700.

Sinn Fein’s Paul Donnelly, who came fifth in the race,
won’t have suffered any financial loss from his by-election challenge as his
expenses of

?¬6,104 will be completely reimbursed.

This is also the case for Roderic O’Gorman (GP) who
will have his expenses of

?¬6,429 paid back by the Exchequer.