PRESS RELEASE

Fine Gael Hypocrisy on corporate donations

Fine Gael has written to numerous business people in County Cork Seeking corporate donations-shortly after their new party leader Michael Noonan said he was banning them, said Deputy Billy Kelleher today. "It is clear that the 25,000 begging letters sent out by Fine Gael seeking corporate donations do only one thing - they point out the hypocrisy and arrogance of Fine Gael in saying one thing and then doing the other." "Fine Gael's own spokesperson says that the letter were sent out "personally" - that is clearly a poor joke, because if we were to believe that, the Fine Gael General Secretary who sent the letters clearly "personally" knows almost as many people as packed into the Ireland v Iran game in Landsdowne Road. "I think Mr. Noonan and his deputy Jim Mitchell as well as the local Fine Gael representatives here should own up and admit they are chasing corporate donations. Instead they are trying to convince everyone that they are depending on loose coppers picked up at church gate collections to fund, what is clearly a party driven by spin, public relations and some arrogance," added Deputy Billy Kelleher.