CAMPAIGN CONTROVERSY:INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon says sexual allegations about a member of her family have been raised with the aim of destroying her character during the presidential election campaign.
In a further dramatic media appearance yesterday, Ms Scallon announced she was still in the race, despite the "malicious lies" she claimed were being spread about her. She provided little new information about the allegations beyond what she revealed during Wednesday's presidential debate on Prime Time.
Asked by TV3’s Ursula Halligan what was the point of continuing in the race when she was bottom of the polls, Ms Scallon said she would not bend to bullying, intimidation or blackmail.
Ms Scallon, who has not campaigned since Wednesday, said the reason she had made the statement on Wednesday’s debate was because false and malicious lies and accusations were being made, to which she had to respond.
She said that on the afternoon of the debate she had come under “tremendous pressure” from a freelance journalist, who had claimed there would be extensive coverage of “these lies and accusations” in the days to come.
“What would you do? What would anyone do? I had to face it head-on and put this to rest,” she said. The previous Saturday night, she had received a threatening e-mail which began: “Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. The bitch is finally getting what she deserved.” The message was unsigned but she had her suspicions about who it was from.
Ms Scallon said it went on to make false accusations that she did not want to repeat. Asked what the allegation was about, she said it was of a sexual nature, regarding a member of her family.
She said she knew it was not true because the first time it was ever raised was in a court case during a family dispute, and was not acted upon at the time. The second time it was raised was now, in the middle of her election campaign “with the obvious desire of trying to destroy my character”.
“The fact that no action was taken either by the alleged victim or by the family of the alleged victim to me proves that this is a false and malicious allegation.”
Asked whether she had been wise to raise the issue during the debate on Wednesday, she replied: “We live in an age today where on social networking, people’s reputations can be destroyed by a rumour, never mind by malicious lies. That is the reality of today.”
She denied having panicked during the debate, repeating that she had come under great pressure from the freelance journalist, who had claimed there would be a “double-spread coverage of malicious lies”. She declined to name the newspaper but praised its integrity for not publishing the allegations.
Ms Scallon also denied engaging in a stunt to attract publicity. “The people of Ireland know me well enough to know that I would never do anything to bring any kind of shame to my family [or] to my family name.”
“I did say if this were to happen again, I would step down and I really felt this was an attempt to make me stand down, but I tell you I will not step down, I will not bend under this, and I would not be broken under this. What I’m saying is the truth. I have nothing to be ashamed of.
“In the very same way that I have been saying to the Irish people in all the time I have been before them as a public representative ‘Do not give in to lies or deception or bullying’, there’s been too much of this going on to our people and I will not accept this in my life or my family and I leave my trust in the hands of the Irish people.”