Mary Fitzpatrick in row over endorsement of candidate

Fianna Fáil's Dublin European election candidate Mary Fitzpatrick has found herself at the centre of an internal row over her alleged endorsement of one council candidate ahead of others.

However, Ms Fitzpatrick’s camp is denying she had any involvement in a leaflet that was distributed in the Cabra, Navan Road and Phibsborough area of Dublin to promote one candidate.

Ms Fitzpatrick herself was famously "shafted" by former taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the 2007 general election campaign, when Mr Ahern instructed voters to give Cyprian Brady a higher preference than Ms Fitzpatrick, even though both were his running mates in Dublin Central.

Endorsement The flyer from council candidate David Costello, which went out on Tuesday night, includes an endorsement for him from Ms Fitzpatrick, over two other party candidates in the area, Paul Ward and Darren Lehane.

It reads: “Mary Fitzpatrick is seeking your No. 1 vote for her colleague Declan Costello in the local elections this Friday, 23rd of May. Costello and Fitzpatrick will work as a team to tackle the issues affecting our community.”

It also includes a picture of Ms Fitzpatrick, Mr Costello and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and a mock ballot paper showing how to give Mr Costello a number one.

While Ms Fitzpatrick’s team are adamant she had nothing to do with it, Mr Costello last night said she had agreed the wording with him.

“If I wanted to be underhanded, I would have done it the night before the election when the press couldn’t pick up on it,” Mr Costello said. “I put it out in good faith.

“The text was cleared by Mary and she was okay with it and gave it her blessing,” he added.

Cute hoor politics Mr Ward claimed "this is the sort of cute hoor politics that gave Fianna Fáil a bad name" and said it was a "pity" others hadn't learned from the past. He also claimed he had been reassured it had nothing to do with Ms Fitzpatrick.

Mr Lehane said he would be very disappointed if it “turns out it was sanctioned by her, given she herself has been victim of that type of thing”.

While Ms Fitzpatrick did not return calls last night, those close to her said she was not endorsing one candidate over another.

“Mary has been out canvassing with all these candidates and is supporting them all,” a source said.