Humphreys being sued by politician

An Irish presidential candidate is being sued by a TD following a campaign debate.

The People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has begun defamation proceedings against Heather Humphreys who is representing the Fine Gael party from the coalition government.

The proceedings relate to comments made by Humphreys on a news programme on the Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

Humphreys said she was disappointed by the action and remained focussed on her campaign.

Murphy sent a solicitor’s letter to Humphreys arising out of remarks she made about his role at an anti-water charge protest in Jobstown in Tallaght, County Dublin, over a decade ago.

A solicitor for Paul Murphy has confirmed to BBC News NI that proceedings have been filed with the High Court in Dublin.

Murphy was one of six men charged with the false imprisonment of the country’s then Tánaiste Joan Burton and an assistant in their car during the protest in November 2014.

All six were acquitted of the charges by a jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2017.

In a statement to BBC News NI, from Fine Gael, Heather Humphreys said: “I’m disappointed that a leading member of Catherine Connolly’s campaign team, Paul Murphy, has decided to take legal proceedings against me.

“This is the tactic of the hard left, they shout everybody down but when you say something they don’t like, they sue you.

“I’m focused on my campaign and Paul Murphy will not bully me.”

Humphreys is contesting the election against an independent candidate Catherine Connolly TD who has the support of a broad alliance of left leaning parties including Sinn Féin, Labour, and People Before Profit as well as the Social Democrats.

A third candidate, Jim Gavin of Fianna Fáil, withdrew from the campaign earlier this month.

The presidential election will be held on Friday, 24 October.