Fine Gael's Dublin Central byelection candidate Ray McAdam travelled to an election event last week in the official car provided to him as lord mayor. It’s unclear whether McAdam or the required official driver drove the car.
Dublin City Council has previously confirmed the car for lord mayors “is not a gift to the person who is lord mayor" and “is not available to the lord mayor, or family members, for their use in a personal capacity”.
“The car is driven by a staff member of Dublin City Council and is never driven by the lord mayor. The driver has responsibility for the car and when not in use the car is kept in a Dublin City Council depot,” said a spokesperson in 2022, reported by Irishcycle.com.
McAdam attended the byelection event organised by the Save Our SNAs and Equality in Education at the National Handball Alley in Ballybough on 6 May .
According to organisers the meeting aimed to promote inclusive education during the byelection campaign.
He and other members of Fine Gael – including tánaiste Simon Harris and minister for defence Helen McEntee – were out canvassing the area that day.
Photographs obtained by The Ditch show the lord mayor's car parked outside the venue with multiple eyewitnesses also confirming its presence.
During the Ballybough event, McAdam was the only candidate who declined to sign a pledge committing to stronger support for SNAs, telling attendees that he doesn't sign pledges "no matter how much I may have agreed with what I don't disagree with", The Journal reported.
McAdam – who spoke first at the event and then left early – travelled to his official campaign launch at the nearby Boar's Head pub with Harris and McEntee joining him.
“There is no more experienced candidate on the ballot,” Harris said in a video taken at the launch posted on Instagram. “Seventeen years of hard work delivering for the people.”
Fine Gael and McAdam have been contacted for comment.
