FF leader on Cork council omits party logo from adverts

THE leader of Fianna Fáil in the country’s largest local authority has stopped using the party logo in public advertisements.

And some rivals have accused Co Cork’s Cllr Alan Coleman of “running scared” in the run-up to the local elections due to Government cutbacks in all services.

Kinsale-based Fine Gael’s Cllr Kevin Murphy, who is in Cllr Coleman’s Bandon electoral area, claimed FF councillors deliberately omitted the logo for fear of falling victim to a public backlash.

Cllr Murphy claimed Cllr Coleman was afraid of losing his seat on June 5 next.

The party’s green and gold harp logo has been removed from Cllr Coleman’s adverts in the weekly Southern Star.

“As far as I’m concerned I think it is deliberate,” said Cllr Murphy. “The public feels very strongly about the situation at the moment and if they see somebody canvassing with a FF logo they will close the door on them. If you are on a party ticket you show it clearly.”

Cllr Coleman acknowledged he hadn’t used the logo on recent advertisements.

“I am not running scared. I haven’t been putting the logo on these adverts because they are for my clinics which are open to all constituents,” he said.

“You can be assured that all publicity information I send out for the election will have the Fianna Fáil logo on it.”

The Fine Gael councillor had also observed that Cllr Danny Crowley, a FF representative based in Adrigole, hadn’t been using the logo either.

Cllr Crowley claimed this was an oversight.

He said that prior to being contacted by the Irish Examiner he had written to the local newspaper asking that the logo be used in all further adverts.

Last month, just days before the shock resignation of Cllr Deirdre Forde from FF, Cllr Coleman spoke about his fears that the party could suffer a serious loss of seats at the local elections.

He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if there were defections.

However, he was shocked when it was announced that Cllr Forde was defecting to Fine Gael. Her shift to the opposition led to plenty of acrimony, with one FF councillor accusing her of betrayal.

However, Cllr Forde claimed she was forced to leave the party because FF were putting up Minister Micheál Martin’s twin brother, Padraig, against her.