Fine Gael Senator John McGahon is his party's main hope of retaining its seat in Louth but his candidacy has caused a problem for the party which has galvanised everybody else into attack mode, writes

Micheál Martin has objected to Fine Gael's decision to allow candidate John McGahon to run in the General Election. Mr McGahon was accused of physically assaulting Breen White in an incident outside a Louth pub in 2018.

McGahon was found not guilty of assault in a criminal trial of the case, but a High Court jury found him 65 per cent civilly liable.

Mr McGahon was acquitted in 2022 of assaulting Breen White outside a Dundalk nightclub in 2018, but the Fine Gael senator was found to be 65% civilly liable by a High Court jury

RIVAL PARTY LEADERS are piling pressure on Fine Gael leader Simon Harris to address the behaviour of a Fine Gael senator that led to an assault case taken against him in the High Court. Fine Gael’s Louth general election candidate John McGahon was involved in an altercation with farmer Breen White outside the Rum House pub in Dundalk in 2018.

Taoiseach Simon Harris’s decision to stand by pub-assault senator John ­McGahon as an election candidate has been branded “wrong” by opposition politicians, who say his candidacy is an issue for Fine Gael.

Micheál Martin said Mr McGahon would not be running in the election if he was a member of Fianna Fáil. This comes after Taoiseach Simon Harris said Fine Gael will continue to canvass for Mr McGahon despite photos showing injuries the man suffered following an altercation with the Louth candidate in 2022.