Labour will not publish ‘attack advert’, says Kathleen Lynch

Junior Labour Minister Kathleen Lynch said the controversial “attack advert” depicting Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin Gerry Adams as the newlyweds in a same-sex marriage will not be officially published.

The Minister of State at the Department of Health, said negative campaigning was not an avenue the party should go down and the draft ad was offensive.

“I would be offended by it as someone who fought very hard for equal rights not just for people who are gay but for everyone,” she said. “I believe the Labour Party had a very good story to tell because without us in Government this referendum would not have happened.”

Ms Lynch said she was thankful Joan Burton had the “common sense” to have the same instinctive reaction as her.

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

Speaking on the PJ Coogan show on Cork’s 96FM the Cork TD said the advert came from an outside agency and was suggested to the party as a possible route for them to go down.

However, she categorically believes the advert will be a non-runner for Labour. “You would also have to say the old story of ‘who benefits?’ [from the leak]. My big question would always be ‘how the hell did this get out?’ ,” she said.

“My instant reaction was to text people who would have known about this. When I texted them they said this was something that got in to the media and shouldn’t have.”

She added the agency were probably instructed to push the party’s hard work on the marriage referendum to the forefront and the broad remit was misinterpreted.

In the photoshopped picture, Mr Martin and Mr Adams are portrayed in morning suits. The “wedding party” also includes left-wing TDs Richard Boyd-Barrett, Paul Murphy, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly.