Paschal Donohoe says that Catherine Noone is free to do an interview with anyone she wishes after calling Leo Varadkar autistic. Contradicting the story that she has been barred from speaking to the media by Fine Gael #GE2020 pic.twitter.com/6FzBtNme2O
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) January 30, 2020
This afternoon.
Meanwhile…
For a party headquarters to effectively tell the media, as they have in this case, that they consider one of their own candidates too incompetent to face a media interview is, and there’s no other word for it, astonishing.
It’s not surprising that they would have conducted a preparatory mock interview with her, nor that they would have decided that in the circumstances, putting her on air was not a good decision.
But in this case, somebody has actively decided to inform a reporter that they’re hiding their own candidate from the press because they do not trust her. That’s a level of viciousness that’s extraordinary, especially given that it is towards one of their own.
And it’s not the first time, either. Or the second. In recent years Fine Gael has displayed more brutality and vindictiveness towards its own members than it ever has towards its political opponents.
…If you come across a young person who’s thinking of joining Fine Gael, give them one piece of advice: Don’t ever make a mistake. Because Fine Gael won’t just try to ruin your life – they’ll actively seem to enjoy doing it.
Fine Gael tears one of its own to pieces. Again. (John McGuirk, Gript)
Earlier: Noone Gets Out Of Here Alive