Heather Humphreys: McNulty appointed to Imma ‘on merit’

Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys today stood over her appointment of Fine Gael Seanad byelection candidate John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Defending her role in a controversy that has run for the past fortnight, Ms Humphreys insisted that she appointed Mr McNulty and another Fine Gael member, Sheila O’Regan to the art institution’s board “based on merit”.

Declining to name the Fine Gael officials whom she said made the candidate known to her Ms Humphreys said “I don’t see any benefit out of making a scapegoat out of a party official by putting their name into the public domain”.

The controversy erupted when it emerged that Mr McNulty had been appointed to the board of Imma just six days before he was nominated as the Fine Gael candidate in the Seanad byelection on the culture and education panel, to replace Deirdre Clune who was elected as an MEP.

Ms Humphreys said party officials made her aware of Mr McNulty’s interest in serving on a board under her remit. She looked at his experience in business, culture and promoting the Irish language.

“I made the decision that he could make a positive contribution to the board of Imma and I stand over that decision.”

Speaking during an adjournment debate in the Seanad on the issue the Minister said “what is most important is that the system of public appointments is being reformed”.

Fianna Fáil Senator Thomas Byrne, who first raised the issue in the Seanad two weeks ago, said it should have been known to the department and the Minister's advisers that the Fine Gael Seanad candidate would have had to resign even as a candidate.

“He wasn’t really even validly appointed at all. He really couldn’t be a member of the board as a Senator,” Mr Byrne said.

Asked if she voted for Mr McNulty she said “the great thing about this country is that it is a democracy and when you vote you vote in secret and that’s the way it will stay”.

The Fianna Fáil senator also asked if the Taoiseach had requested Ms Humphreys to say nothing over the past couple of weeks “because certainly there seems to be a deliberate policy not to answer questions on this subject”.

Ms Humphreys acknowledged that it would have been preferable to use the public appointments process “and while I stand over the appointments I have made to date I am fully committed to using the public appointments process in the future in line with new Government guidelines”.

Ms Humphreys repeated that Taoiseach Enda Kenny had taken full responsibility for the matter and he accepted that “this entire matter could have been handled better”.

She rejected what she called Fianna Fáil suggestions that she had breached the size of the Imma board, but said the current limit was 15 members. The Department advised her there were six vacancies on the Imma board “so there was no impediment to me making the appointment”.

But Mr Byrne said the Minister had “failed to answer the questions yet again”.

He said “we’re not trying to make a scapegoat of any Fine Gael official. It is the Taoiseach and you that are making a scapegoat of an unnamed official.”