Taoiseach blames McNulty furore on FG staff

The Taoiseach has blown open a bitter row in his party by blaming unnamed officials for the botched handling of Fine Gael’s nomination for the Seanad by-election.

Members of the party’s national executive are “furious” that they have been “made to look like complete fools” after Enda Kenny passed the blame for the controversy by saying he was not happy with how it was handled in the party.

In a humiliating climbdown, Mr Kenny told the Dáil he let his “standards slip” and did not “measure up” to the trust placed in him or his party by allowing his Seanad nominee, John McNulty, be placed on the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma).