Labour divorces itself from ‘cheeky’ ad showing Micheál Martin and Gerry Adams as couple

Labour has insisted a controversial advert depicting Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil leaders Gerry Adams and Micheál Martin as a just-married gay couple was never meant to run, after widespread criticism of the draft election poster.

A senior Labour spokesperson was forced to distance the party from the reference to the potential alternative coalition after the image was leaked at the weekend.

The image depicts Mr Adams and Mr Martin celebrating a de facto political marriage, beside Independent TDs Mick Wallace and Clare Daly and left-wing colleagues Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd Barrett,with the tag-line: “This is one marriage we should vote no to this year.”

Despite being drawn up in December by an advertising agency regularly used by Labour, and the fact it mirrors recent Labour and Fine Gael claims, Labour last night insisted the advert was never meant to be aired.

“As one element of our campaign, we considered some draft adverts to make a serious point in a light- hearted way,” a senior spokesperson said.

While Labour’s official response has been seen as an attempt to highlight its message while distancing itself from the draft leaked advert itself, it is understood the party has not signed off on the poster campaign and is still considering six other options focussing on its own polices in power.

Image portraying Adams and Martin as gay couple 'drafted but not commissioned' by Labour https://t.co/vrKho84Cvx pic.twitter.com/0goEqkBtAJ

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) January 3, 2016

However, Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil both criticised the advert, described yesterday by Fine Gael’s director of elections Brian Hayes as “cheeky but funny”.

A Fianna Fáil spokesperson said the party is “blue in the face” saying it will not share power with Sinn Féin.

Mr Adams said the leaked advert is “juvenile” and “devalues marriage equality”.

While the Labour advert will underline its sought-for message that Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin could enter coalition with each other, previous attempts to criticise rivals in this way have back-fired, most infamously in the 2010 British election, which saw Labour depict Conservative leader David Cameron as a used-car salesman. The message gave Mr Cameron a boost in support among younger voters after claims it gave him a ‘cooler’ image.