Mayo's Joanne Grehan refutes rumours about late night incident with American politician

Questions raised about what an American politician and an Irish businesswoman were doing in a parked car early one morning have been denounced as being part of a "nasty political campaign".

Former FBI agent Ed FitzGerald and Mayo woman Joanne Grehan have become embroiled in a series of controversial reports on both sides of the Atlantic in recent days.

Ms Grehan was part of the Taoiseach’s delegation to the US in 2012 when she and Mr FitzGerald were spotted by police early one morning in a parked car.

Mr FitzGerald is currently campaigning to become the Democratic governor of Ohio in November. The married father of four held a press conference last week to answer questions.

Ms Grehan is a former college lecturer and is currently the CEO of Mayo County Enterprise Board.

Audio of a phonecall to police by electrician Kasey Hagar, which prompted the pre-dawn check, has been circulated on the internet.

According to a police report, occupants of the red Ford were spoken to at 4.30am on October 13, 2012, in a car park at an industrial complex in Cleveland, Ohio.

Ms Grehan is viewed as a close ally of Mr Kenny’s. She was part of an Irish trade delegation to Cleveland at the time and attended events with Mr Kenny that week.

Mr FitzGerald says he was one of two designated drivers for the visiting group on the night in question. He said there were problems getting the delegation back to hotels after a social event.

He says Ms Grehan is a family friend and both deny anything inappropriate took place.

He said he pulled into the car park to get his bearings and that they talked. While police approached the vehicle, he said everything was fine and “it didn’t even amount to a situation that resulted in a traffic ticket”.

Married mother of one Ms Grehan issued a statement in which she said there were was “absolutely no basis for the unfounded speculation and nasty innuendo which surrounds reporting of this issue.”

Her office said she was on annual leave yesterday and that there was no comment.

However, supporters of Mr FitzGerald have criticised the leaked report and coverage of the matter.

Chairman of Democrats Abroad in Ireland, TJ Mulloy, yesterday said the Ohio nominee was “a sweet man, a lovely guy”.

“It’s a nasty political campaign,” he said.

Mr Mulloy is a friend and also from Cleveland.

“It’s just politics,” he said. “It could be Republicans or an outside group, who knows? It’s a storm in a tea cup.

“It seems like it is politically timed. But he’s real clean cut, a former FBI agent.

“It’s like a member of the Dáil being checked by a garda if they were in the car and nothing happened.”