IT MAY have been an annus horribilis for the controversial Senator Ivor Callely, but there was no sign of it in his seasonal correspondence posted to potential voters.
The 2011 calendar has begun landing in letter boxes within a Christmas card wishing all its recipients a peaceful Christmas and a happy new year.
The calendar declares: “Ivor Callely . . . working all year round . . .” It adds that he has “an unwavering energy and dedication born of a true passion for public service”. The recipients are councillors who with outgoing Senators and incoming TDs make up the approximately 1,000 voters for the panels representing specific vocational interests in the Seanad election. He resigned from Fianna Fáil in the wake of the expenses controversy and the name and logo of the Soldiers of Destiny have been expunged from his correspondence, but he retains the colours.
Controversy erupted when it emerged he had claimed more than €80,000 for travel and overnight expenses from a house in west Cork 370km from the Dáil, despite his Clontarf address in Dublin North Central, three kilometres from Leinster House.
He was suspended for 20 days following a Seanad committee hearing on the matter. He always insisted he acted honestly and in good faith with his expenses.