Harris defends candidate found liable for assault

Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Simon Harris has defended the selection of a general election candidate who was found liable for assault.

Senator John McGahon, who is standing in County Louth, was acquitted in 2022 of assaulting Breen White outside a Dundalk nightclub in 2018 but was found to be 65% civilly liable by a High Court jury.

Video of the incident has emerged, along with images of Mr Breen’s injuries.

Other parties have criticised Fine Gael's support for McGahon's candidacy.

Harris defended McGahon during Irish broadcaster RTÉ's two-hour televised leaders' debate on Monday, called Upfront.

The debate involved 10 party leaders, and covered a range of issues including the ongoing Irish housing crisis, the cost of living and immigration.

One party leader, Holly Cairns of the Social Democrats, did not participate in the debate as she is due to give birth to her first child this week and was represented by her deputy party leader Cian O’Callaghan.

During the debate, Harris stressed the criminal case against McGahon "was fully litigated and examined in a court".

"A garda (Irish police) investigation, a jury of his peers looked at all of the evidence, all of the CCTV, all of the footage, heard from all of the witnesses, and they found him not guilty", he told RTÉ's Upfront.

Harris added if McGahon had been found guilty, he would "not be a candidate for my party".

"I'm not sure every other leader on this stage can say that about their own party, but that is the position of my party," he said.

McGahon, who was elected to Seanad Éireann (the upper house of Irish parliament) in 2020, was found not guilty in a trial in 2022 for physically attacking Mr White.

In a subsequent civil trial, he was found 65% liable and was ordered to pay €39,000 (£32,596) in damages.

The Fine Gael leader said it was now up to the people of County Louth to decide who they want to represent them in the general election, adding that McGahon was "a democratically selected candidate, and he has not been convicted of a criminal charge".

Earlier, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said the attack was "anything but a scuffle" and that McGahon would not be a candidate in his party.

"Any strikes or blows on the head, we all know what the consequences can be," he said.

Martin said he was "shocked" to see photographs of the victim's injuries.

The Fianna Fáil leader added he was shocked the taoiseach had "doubled down" on his support for the senator.

"It's a matter for Fine Gael, a matter for the people of Louth, but I certainly was surprised by the decision to double down on his candidature, given what we know,” he said.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also said McGahon would not be a party candidate, calling the video "shocking".

“That anybody in public life or anyone at all would act like that, it's very distressing to view," she told an event in Dublin.

McDonald said it was "no way for a candidate to behave" and that Harris should take action.

Donegal TD (MP) Pearse Doherty said if McGahon had been in Sinn Féin, there would be "wall-to-wall" media coverage.

"It's surprising that Fine Gael have appeared to carry out no disciplinary activities whatsoever," he said.

"This was a vicious assault in relation to somebody who required hospitalisation, and let's be clear that that person would not be a candidate for Sinn Féin."