Officials push brakes on Cowen parking his ‘election mode’ car in grounds of Leinster House
A Fianna Fáil TD running for the European elections has been asked not to bring his “election mode” car on to the Leinster House site.
Laois-Offaly TD Barry Cowen’s face and name were spotted plastered all over a car parked in the rear car park at Leinster House on Wednesday.
Mr Cowen said the car is in “election mode” and has posters with his name, face and other Fianna Fáil branding on the bonnet, rear window and sides of the car.
He is hoping to take a European seat in the Midlands-North West constituency, and is among three Fianna Fáil candidates on the ticket, including Senators Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney.
A spokesperson for the Houses of the Oireachtas said the Leinster House grounds “should not be used for electioneering”.
“If cars (are) brought to our attention or noticed, car owners would be asked to remove them while parked on campus,” they said.
Mr Cowen said he was asked “not to bring the car on the campus again”.
“That’s fine by me and I won’t be parking there again while car is in election mode,” he said.
The former agriculture minister was sacked by Tánaiste Micheál Martin when he refused to take questions in the Dáil about a drink-driving ban in 2020.
Mr Martin said he had “extensive discussions” with Mr Cowen about claims he sought to evade gardaí, which the Offaly TD insisted were “completely untrue”.
In a statement posted on X, Mr Cowen later said he was “surprised and disappointed” to be informed by the Taoiseach over the phone of his sacking.
He is widely tipped to take a seat for his party in a constituency where it has had no MEP for 15 years.
Meanwhile, Dublin Rathdown TD Josepha Madigan said she should not have filmed a campaign video in Leinster House while she was seeking the Fine Gael nod for the European Dublin seat.
Despite being viewed as the party favourite, Ms Madigan lost out and Senator Regina Doherty was selected instead.
Fianna Fáil is running former RTÉ presenter Cynthia Ní Mhurchú in the Ireland South constituency, as well as sitting MEP Billy Kelleher.
Barry Andrews is seeking re-election in Dublin.