Shane Ross denies 'having a go' at Maria Bailey with swing snap

The Transport Minister posted an image of himself on a swing at the Goat Bar last Friday while out canvassing.

Shane Ross has responded to claims that he was ‘sneering’ at TD Maria Bailey with a recent post on his Twitter account.

The Transport Minister posted an image of himself on a swing at a Dublin bar and restaurant last Friday while out canvassing.

Speculation was rife that the image, captioned, “Enjoying a safe swing in the Goat Bar yesterday after canvassing” was a direct ‘dig’ at the Fine Gael TD, who recently took out and later withdrew a personal injury claim against The Dean Hotel after she fell off a swing located at the property.

But today, speaking to Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One this morning, the Minister said he wasn’t being “judgemental” towards the controversy, now known as #SwingGate.

I wasn’t sneering at all, I was just showing a bit of humour in a very serious situation

Ross explained that someone had told him to sit on the swing for a photo and as the controversy was “in full rage at that moment” he thought the photo opportunity would be quite humorous.

Enjoying a safe swing in the Goat Bar yesterday after canvassing . pic.twitter.com/duXTABVK0W

— Shane Ross (@Ross_Shane1) May 24, 2019

Meanwhile, The Dean Hotel confirmed that they have “no intention” of removing the swings from Sophie’s bar after pictures showing them being removed circulated from Reddit.

Sophies took to Twitter today to say that they were only removed temporarily as part of a private hire event.

“We have no intention of removing the swings from Sophie's, don’t worry,” the statement read.

They’re back up and ready for you to swing into the weekend!