‘McDaid must face full rigour of law’

ANTI-DRINK driving campaigners last night demanded that former minister Dr Jim McDaid be subjected to the full rigour of the law after he was arrested for driving the wrong way down on a Kildare dual carriageway.

Thu, 28 Apr, 2005 - 01:00

Michael O’Farrell and Cormac O’Keeffe

Dr McDaid, who was Minister of Tourism and Junior Transport Minister in successive Fianna Fáil-led governments, was arrested between 10.15pm and 10.30pm on Tuesday as he returned from Punchestown.

Garda sources confirmed that Dr McDaid, who as Junior Transport Minister in 2002 launched a major anti-drink driving safety campaign, had driven down an exit ramp of the N7 and carried on against the flow of traffic for up to two minutes before being spotted by an off-duty garda. Gardaí from Naas subsequently arrested the Donegal TD under Section 49 of the Road Traffic Act and took a blood sample at Naas Garda station. The sample has been sent for testing at the Medical Bureau of Road Safety.