As Fianna Fáil prepares to decide whether to sanction Wexford councillor Mr Lorcan Allen for forging the Taoiseach's signature on an election letter, it emerged that a Fianna Fáil general election candidate did the same thing in Mayo in 2002. Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent, reports.
In another, separate development a Galway councillor confirmed yesterday that he had used freepost Oireachtas envelopes in his recent campaign, although these envelopes are for Oireachtas members' use only.
Cllr Michael Fahy said yesterday he would pay for stamps himself in the next election.
Mr Fahy said he believed he had done nothing wrong and said at least two other candidates in Galway had done the same thing. Party sources confirmed that such misuse of Oireachtas envelopes was widespread among local authority candidates and was indulged in by other parties as well.
A party spokeswoman said all party Oireachtas members would be written to again to remind them of the clear guidelines for using Oireachtas envelopes.
Fianna Fáil's National Executive is expected to suspend or expel Mr Allen, a former minister of state, from that body next week after it emerged that he had forged a letter from the Taoiseach to his Gorey constituents, urging them to give their number one vote to him rather than his party running mate.
It emerged yesterday that a then sitting Fianna Fáil senator, Mr Frank Chambers, sent a similar letter to constituents during the 2002 General Election campaign in Mayo, urging a number one vote for him.
In the letter Senator Chambers included the wording: "A message from An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. I appeal to the voters of west Mayo to vote No 1 for Senator Frank Chambers and No 2 for John Carty and the other Fianna Fáil candidates in order of your preference and to return three Fianna Fáil TDs from Mayo. Fianna Fáil is committed to Mayo." It added: "Frank Chambers has given 25 years' service to the people of County Mayo as an honest, hard-working Councillor and Senator. Let him be west Mayo's voice in Dublin." The letter is signed in a handwritten style, 'Bertie'.
A spokeswoman for the Taoiseach said yesterday Mr Ahern or the party did not sanction the letter, and that Fianna Fáil had written to the Mayo party organisation at the time saying this. Senator Chambers was not available for comment.
Cllr Fahy, who used hundreds of Oireachtas envelopes, said he understood the rules allowed councillors to use the taxpayer-funded envelopes if the correspondence contained the names of TDs or Senators and he had used the names of three Oireachtas members on each of his letters. Mr Fahy said some of the envelopes had been in his possession for the last decade.
He said he had not used the Oireachtas envelopes to save money but "to show influence. I wanted to show I had the support of the Oireachtas members and if I hadn't done it like the other candidates, it would seem like I didn't have the same clout."
He declined to say which member of the Oireachtas had given him access to the postage-paid facility.