'Friends of Fianna Fáil' get 4.5m State contract

MARTIN Cullen yesterday denied any favouritism in his awarding of a 4.5 million publicity contract to a consortium, which includes a former Fianna Fáil general secretary and the Taoiseach's ex-advisor.

The contract to run an advertising and information campaign on electronic voting for next year's elections was awarded to McConnells advertising agency and PR firm Q4.

It is estimated Q4 will make more than 1 million from the deal, which was subject to a full public procurement process.