Fine Gael has handed down a reprimand to a councillor after remarks he made on a party WhatsApp group about the feet of Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
The remarks, swiftly deleted, were made as a joke by Carlow councillor Brian O’Donoghue. When another member of the group questioned the comment, O’Donoghue removed it.
Later he contacted Carroll MacNeill to apologise and she accepted the apology.
Neither Fine Gael nor the councillor would disclose what was stated in the disputed message to necessitate its speedy removal from the WhatsApp forum.
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“It was a comment that was made in jest, that was deleted immediately and that I apologised for. It was retracted, deleted,” O’Donoghue said in reply to questions.
“There’s no need to bring any attention to it. The right thing was done. It was deleted and everyone moves on.”
First elected in 2014 and twice re-elected, O’Donoghue has been a councillor for more than a decade.
In the 2024 election, he regained his seat in the Tullow electoral area at the end of a four-day count when only three votes separated three candidates seeking the final two seats.
Asked whether O’Donoghue’s WhatsApp comment was the subject of an ongoing disciplinary case within the party, Fine Gael indicated it was not.
“The party was informed of a comment made by a councillor against a party member,” Fine Gael said, without naming anyone or specifying the nature of the comment.
“The councillor has been reprimanded by the party for this comment. The councillor made an immediate apology to the other party member, which was immediately accepted.”
Fine Gael was asked whether the Minister had any comment on the matter but didn’t provide any.
It is understood Carroll MacNeill is not a member of the WhatsApp group in question. One Fine Gael member said there were many such groups within party circles.
Fine Gael requires members to uphold social media “house rules”, which apply across all party social media channels and social media channels belonging to party representatives.
The policy states that Fine Gael welcomes comments, posts, opinions and debate, and aims for its social media channels to be a quality environment in which users can engage.
However, it expects “that users post content, commentary and direct messages that are both relevant and respectful, including towards other users”.
Remarks not tolerated include “unrelated content” which is described as “comments or direct messages that are entirely unrelated to the posted topic”.
The Fine Gael policy states: “Before posting a comment or direct message, users should carefully review and adhere to both the terms of use and community guidelines of the platform(s) in question as well as the Fine Gael social media house rules.”
