INDIGNAMNT
Aslan star Christy outraged as leo’s spin team use his words in promo
CHRISTY Dignam has revealed he is “p***ed off” and “feels used” that his words were used to promote Leo Varadkar’s Government.
The Aslan singer was featured in a two-page advertorial in the Herald newspaper last month under the headline “Fantastic Finglas can only get better with new LUAS link – Christy”.
This was part of promotional paid content commissioned and made to look like regular news as part of the Ireland 2040 by the Strategic Communications Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach.
Dignam claims he didn’t know what he was being interviewed for and said what appeared makes him look like a Fine Gael supporter He told the Sunday Times: “I got a phone call from a journalist who said she was doing an article about the prosperity the LUAS would bring to Finglas.
“When I read the article in the paper it struck me that most of the things I said weren’t in it. I only found out on Tuesday it was an advertisement for the Government.” Economist Constantin Gurdgiev, who was interviewed for the same article, also said he was unaware he it was for a Government advertisement. Meanwhile, the Sunday Business Post obtained a series of confidential emails between Varadkar and his chief of staff Brian Murphy in relation to the controversial Strategic Communications Unit.
In one the Taoiseach’s top adviser warned him it “could be enormous and can easily be spun, however inaccurately, as a vanity project”.
The emails also show SCU chief John Concannon saying the unit’s effectiveness would depend on “regular structured access to senior government decision-makers and processes” despite Varadkar saying it operates at arm’s length from his staff.
While the Taoiseach has already ordered a review of procedures at the SCU, the opposition parties increased pressure on him to shut it down. Labour party leader Brendan Howlin said the SCU was being used solely for Fine Gael’s self-promotion.
He added: “It is clear that promoting the political agenda of Fine Gael has always been at the heart of this project.
“As much as the Taoiseach tries to tell us otherwise, this is not about legitimate public information campaigns it is about Fine Gael politicising the functions of the State and the agencies of the State.”
And speaking on RTE’S The Week In Politics Sinn Fein’s Eoin O Broin said his party was considering tabling a motion to disband the Unit this week.
He added: “Leo Varadkar needs to step up and say he’s got this wrong.
“We have private members time this week, we are seriously considering tabling a motion for that Strategic Communications Unit to be disbanded.
“It is a wholly inappropriate abuse of taxpayers money.”