Kenny refuses to criticise attacks on McGuinness

ENDA KENNY has left the way clear for Fine Gael ministers to continue their attacks on Sinn Féin presidential candidate Martin McGuinness.

The Taoiseach refused to criticise claims by his ministers that Mr McGuinness had benefited from the proceeds of the Northern Bank raid and that electing him would mean putting a “terrorist in the Park”.

Mr Kenny said that, as Taoiseach, it was imperative he had a working relationship with the President and therefore he would not personally comment.

He refused to say if he agreed with the view of Environment Minister Phil Hogan that Mr McGuinness as president would scare off foreign investors or Government chief whip Paul Kehoe’s claim about the Northern Bank proceeds.

He said: “I support the democratic process, which allows for good, vigorous and robust debate in the electoral process.”

Mr McGuinness has dismissed the attacks as “dirty tricks” and “black propaganda”.

Separately, Independent candidate Mary Davis released figures showing she had earned over €390,000 in fees from board memberships over the last decade.

Ms Davis released her P60s for the last three years, which showed her salary was €156,310 in 2010, €149,207 in 2009 and €138,167 in 2008.

Another Independent candidate, Sean Gallagher, also released the detail of his board memberships. They showed he earned €41,150 in fees between 2008 and 2011, of which he gave €11,000 to charity.

Sinn Féin said Mr McGuinness had asked his bank manager in the North for details of his accounts following his pledge to demonstrate he took only the average wage.

A party spokesman said the documentation is expected to show he receives £370.38 per week after tax.