Kenny’s press chief in photos controversy

Enda Kenny’s press chief became embroiled in a major controversy last night after saying the Taoiseach had viewed the pictures of Michaela McAreavey’s corpse — only to later retract the claim.

The embarrassing episode saw government press secretary Feargal Purcell say he emailed the images to Mr Kenny, and that the Taoiseach had looked at them — an act the Tánaiste had said would be an “invasion of her family’s privacy”.

Mr Purcell then insisted he did not know if Mr Kenny had viewed the pictures or not, and later told the Irish Examiner: “The Taoiseach did not see the photographs. He was briefed on the nature of the photos by me. And on that basis, he decided the action he wanted to take.”