Politics

Gavin Duffy ‘caught rapid’ using council logo on presidential brochures

Presidential hopeful claims he had permission for logo but when challenged, admits he did not

Gavin Duffy pitches his presidential nomination campaign to Kildare County Council members in Naas, Co Kildare. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times

Aine McMahon
Tue Aug 28 2018 - 23:01

Presidential hopeful Gavin Duffy has admitted he did not seek permission to use Kildare County Council’s Local Enterprise Office logo on his political campaign material.

Presidential hopefuls were in Kildare on Monday to pitch their campaign promises.

Four of them – Gavin Duffy, Joan Freeman, Jimmy Smyth and Kevin Sharkey – made presentations to county councillors in Naas in a bid to secure nominations to run for the presidency.

Mr Duffy, an investor on RTÉ TV show Dragons’ Den, distributed his brochures to Kildare County Councillors as part of his presentation to the council.

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When asked at the presentation about corruption, he said one of the planks of his campaign was integrity.“I don’t think there is anything that can be found in my past that will cause embarrassment to me or my children, in my business or personal life.”

Cllr Fiona McLoughlin Healy of Kildare County Council said the use of the council’s Local Enterprise Office logo, “whether intended to or not, had the unfair effect of an endorsement of him by the council”.

Conflicting statements

In a series of conflicting statements on Twitter, Mr Duffy initially claimed he had sought permission to use the logo, but when challenged by Ms O’Loughlin Healy on the matter, he admitted he did not.

“The logo was to demonstrate that I have worked regularly with @LEO_Kildare and certainly was not intended as political endorsement,” he tweeted.

“It was never intended to be seen as a political endorsement by LEO Kildare of my seeking a nomination from Kildare and if it has been interpreted as that, which I now accept it could be, I apologise for the infringement and thank you for drawing my attention to it,” he tweeted.

He tweeted that he had been “caught rapid”, had made a mistake in an earlier tweet by saying he had received permission, and had moved to correct it.

Paid workshops

He said he has previously undertaken paid work doing workshops for Kildare Local Enterprise Office.

The formal order calling the 2018 presidential election has been signed by Minister for Local Government Eoghan Murphy, who said polling day is to be held on Friday, October 26th.

The signing of the order kick-starts a 28-day period during which hopefuls can seek to secure a place on the ballot paper to take on President Michael D Higgins in the autumn.

The closing date for nominations is noon on September 26th. The nomination period begins on August 30th.

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