Dana considers quitting over fresh allegations

DANA ROSEMARY SCALLON is considering withdrawing from the presidential contest after what she claimed were further attempts to destroy her character.

She referred to unspecified allegations that are due to emerge today, related to her time in the US.

Despite being pressed by Miriam O’Callaghan, who moderated last night’s Prime Time debate, Ms Scallon refused to spell out the root of her concerns other than to refer to newspaper reports.

She said she did want to give in but she was mindful of the effect it would have on her family.

The unclear revelation, and her admission that she may now pull out of the contest, came after she clashed with other candidates on the place of God in the Constitution.

She accused Michael D Higgins and the Labour party of trying to secularise the country as well as the Constitution.

He, Mary Davis, Martin McGuinness and David Norris all called for the prominence of God in the oath of office and the Constitution to be reviewed. Mr Norris said although he was Christian he believed the weight of religious values given in the Constitution and the oath of office needed to be addressed.

He said references to God were not just symbolic and were proven to be strong legal influences as they guided the spirit in which the Constitution is interpreted.

“I am concerned that people who do not have faith should not be restricted. I think we should realise that these expressions of belief have legal effect,” Mr Norris said.

During the seven-candidate debate moderator Ms O’Callaghan clashed with Sinn Féin’s Mr McGuinness after asking how he reconciled his Catholicism with the murders the IRA committed.

“I think that is a despicable comment to make,” he replied and rejected the suggestion he was loyal to a terrorist army above the Republic of Ireland.

Yet again he was attacked by Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell, who dismissed Mr McGuinness’s contention that the IRA’s actions were to be viewed in the context of an occupied country.

Mr Mitchell also rounded on his fellow candidates for seeking to criticise Sean Gallagher’s prominent position in Fianna Fáil while remaining quiet about Mr McGuinness’s past.

Mr Gallagher ducked questions on Fianna Fáil’s role in the economic crisis. However, he sought to address a growing controversy about unpaid business loans he received from the Louth County Enterprise Board in 2001.

Mr Gallagher said he was given €20,000 to establish an electrical wiring firm, which was not repaid when it was supposed to be at the end of 2008. Instead, in February 2009, his accountants and legal team reached an out of court settlement with the enterprise board for him to repay €19,000.