Paul Murphy uses Dáil privilege to criticise Taoiseach's new 'spin doctor'

Solidarity-PBP TD Paul Murphy criticised the appointment today in the Dáil. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been attacked in the Dáil for hiring a "spin doctor" who previously worked for an organisation "renowned for its racism, sexism, and the disgusting lies it told about the Hillsborough disaster".

Solidarity-PBP TD Paul Murphy made a number of accusations under Dáil privilege about the Government's new press secretary, Paul Clarkson, who previously worked for The Sun, both in Ireland and the UK.

Mr Martin said it was not fair of Mr Murphy to "personalise" the appointment "to the degree that he has" when Mr Clarkson was not in a position to defend himself in the Dáil.

Mr Murphy and Labour Party leader Alan Kelly also raised the unprecedented number of special adviser appointments by the Government.

Mr Murphy told the Dáil: "This new spin doctor has come from the Murdoch media empire. He was previously the managing editor of The Sun in the UK, a newspaper renowned for its racism, sexism, and, of course, the disgusting lies it told about the Hillsborough disaster. He was forced to apologise for an article that compared migrants to cockroaches and 'a plague of feral humans'.

"He apologised for errors in a completely inaccurate and racist article, which had the frontpage headline that one in five British Muslims had sympathy for jihadis."

Mr Murphy added: "It does not bode very well for the Government's professed opposition to divisive politics."

Mr Kelly hit out at the fact that 64 advisers have been taken on by the Coalition. "I can tell the Taoiseach straight up if he were standing where I am standing, he would be giving out yards about this. 

"In the past, when this issue has been raised, the Taoiseach spoke about how programme managers were brought in 30 or 40 years ago by the Labour Party and others. The proportionality is a bit different. The volume here is incredible," he said.

Mr Martin said the programme for government outlined that each of the three parties in Government would nominate a press secretary. "Where there are parties with different perspectives in government, and this is a three-party Government, there is a need to make sure that the policy programme, as per the programme for government, and the perspectives of parties are brought through."

Mr Clarkson later declined to comment.