Fine Gael's Kate O'Connell denounces 'sinister hoax' message on eve of polling

Message purported to be from her supporters, but called for voters to support other parties

Former TD Kate O’Connell said tonight she is contacting the gardaí after a social media post, supposedly from her supporters, urged voters to support parties other than Fine Gael. Picture: Garrett White/Collins

Former TD Kate O’Connell has declared as a “sinister hoax” a social media message purporting to be from her supporters calling on Fine Gael voters to back Ivana Bacik over James Geoghegan in tomorrow’s Dublin Bay South by-election.

The message which was circulating in social media groups tonight was quickly dismissed as a fake by Ms O’Connell and senior party sources on the eve of polling.

Ms O’Connell, having been alerted to the message by the Irish Examiner, said she was referring the matter to the gardaí.

“I have become aware in the last hour of a fake message circulating to people, alleging to be from me, or from someone to do with me,” she said. 

I am shocked and disturbed at this. Whoever is behind it is clearly acting out of desperation. I will be contacting the gardaí. 

Ms O’Connell did not contest the by-election amid tensions with party leader Leo Varadkar.

The message was sent from what was called a "FG for Kate" account and said: "Dear members of Fine Gael in DBS and neighbouring areas and supporters and friends of Kate O'Connell, please encourage your families and friends to give their No. 1 vote to Ivana Bacik tomorrow, and to continue their preferences for Claire Byrne, Deidre Conroy, Sarah Durcan and Lynn Boylan."

FG scramble to canvass for Geoghegan

Meanwhile, Fine Gael cancelled its usual weekly meeting of its parliamentary party to allow its TDs and Senators “flood” Dublin Bay South, in a last-gasp bid to win the seat in the constituency.

Polling opens at 7am on Thursday morning and will stay open until 10.30pm and sources within Fine Gael are “worried” that they could be beaten to the post by Labour’s Ivana Bacik, who has performed strongly.

The decision to eschew the parliamentary party meeting was seen by some party members as a sign that James Geoghegan is not assured of winning the seat vacated by former Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

Frontrunner may be beaten by transfers

Having been the frontrunner in the early stages of the campaign and the most popular candidate according to last week’s Irish Times constituency opinion poll, Mr Geoghegan’s campaign has failed to ignite many beyond the traditional Fine Gael base.

It is feared that even if he does top the poll, as is likely, he will be caught on transfers in later counts by Ms Bacik, who is seen as his most likely challenger.

Labour, SF, and Greens polling well 

The Labour senator is well placed to pull off a surprising victory for her party which is languishing at less than 5% in the opinion polls and is seen as highly transfer-friendly which could be crucial in the later stages of the contest.

The Green Party’s candidate, Claire Byrne, has impressed and rival camps are anticipating she will poll “significantly higher” than the poll last week suggested she would.

It is also expected that Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan will be higher than the 13% predicted in the poll last week and the party has been “heavily targeting” certain pockets of the constituency in a bid to boost their vote.

However, there is a widespread acceptance within Fianna Fáil that their candidate, Deirdre Conroy, is set to fare “very badly” given what has been a disastrous campaign.