Ferris ‘greatly relieved’ to be cleared of suspected drink driving

SINN FÉIN’S Martin Ferris yesterday said he was “greatly relieved” to be cleared of suspected drink driving.

A sample of urine, taken after the Kerry North TD was arrested in Ardfert, Co Kerry, last month, has showed a negative result.

Mr Ferris, who admitted to having consumed some alcohol, said he was confident at the time of his arrest, early on Sunday April 22, that he was under the limit and he had now been vindicated.

He also said that, if he found himself in that position again, he would not get behind the wheel of his car.

Following his arrest, Mr Ferris said he had a glass of wine with his dinner at 7pm, on Saturday evening, and drank two pints of beer in a pub in Ardfert later that night.

When he left the pub, he got into his car to drive home, about a third of a mile away, but was stopped at a garda checkpoint.

At the time, he maintained was under the drink driving limit for alcohol and would never have got into his car if he thought there was any chance he was over the limit.

“Obviously, I am greatly relieved that the results of my urine test have shown that I was under the limit,” he said yesterday.

“However, I still regret what happened and, if I was in that position again tomorrow, I would not get behind the wheel of my car.”

Mr Ferris said he now wanted to get on with his campaign for re-election as he had been doing since ‘the episode’ and wanted to thank the many people all over North Kerry who supported him over the last two weeks.

“I also hope that this reassures anybody out there who may have been apprehensive about the outcome of the urine test,” he said, “and I ask them to put their faith in me to continue my hard work for the people of North Kerry.”

After the arrest, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he believed Mr Ferris’s assertion that he was under the limit and also said no disciplinary action would be taken by the party before the test results were returned.