A candidate running in General Election 2020 in the Carlow constituency has expressed his disapproval following the distribution of false letters to the electorate claiming to be from the TD.
Speaking to AgriLand, Fine Gael candidate for the Carlow constituency Pat Deering has described the stunt as “the cheapest, low-down thing anybody could ever do”.
Deering, who chaired the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, explained what happened:
“About three weeks ago around the time of the proposed RIC commemoration, somebody put a poster on Facebook impersonating me saying ‘I wouldn’t be doing clinics on January 17, my office would be closed because I was going to Dublin Castle to celebrate the Black and Tans’.
Subsequently, somebody then printed a copy of those false posters and sent them to individuals in my home town.
Deering explained that a couple of people in the constituency contacted him explaining they had received “handwritten letters and addressed envelopes” in the post, yesterday, Tuesday, February 5.
A copy of the false letter that was circulated can be seen below:
He added that the individuals who received them were “disgusted at what they had received” .
“How the perpetrator decided who they were going to send them to, I don’t know.
I have been approached by a number of people who have got them and they are absolutely disgusted. It is the cheapest, low-down thing anybody could ever do. It is the worst type of dirty politics.
Furthermore, Deering explained: “From the commemoration point of view, I was never going to it, never invited, and had no intention of going in the first place.”
Concluding, Deering said his campaign trail is going “very well” and expressed optimism, saying: “Hopefully, people will see the work rate I have had over the past number of years and hopefully it will turn into votes on Saturday.”