Rival calls new Paschal Donohoe adviser ‘slime’ in Twitter row

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe’s newly appointed special adviser has been described as “slime” by a constituency rival in a bitter online spat.

Ed Brophy, who has taken up his post with Mr Donohoe in recent weeks, engaged in a Twitter row in recent days with Social Democrats representative Gary Gannon, who narrowly missed out on a seat in Dublin Central at the 2016 general election. Mr Donohoe has represented the constituency since 2011.

The row began when Mr Gannon criticised Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for highlighting recent achievements in office on his own Twitter account. This prompted Mr Brophy to tweet: “Of course, Twitter would literally break if @1GaryGannon listed his achievements this week.”