Paul Murphy uses Dáil’s privilege to criticize Taoiseach’s new ‘spin doctor’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has been attacked in the Dáil for hiring a “spin doctor” who previously worked for an organization “known for its racism, sexism and the disgusting lies it told about the Hillsborough disaster.”

Solidarity-PBP TD Paul Murphy made a series of allegations under Dáil’s privilege about the government’s new press secretary, Paul Clarkson, who previously worked for Sun, both in Ireland and the UK.

Martin said it was not fair for Murphy to “personalize” the appointment “to the extent that he did” when Clarkson was not in a position to defend himself at the Dáil.

Murphy and Labor Party leader Alan Kelly also raised the unprecedented number of special adviser appointments by the government.

Mr. Murphy told the Dáil: “This new plot doctor hails from Murdoch’s media empire. He was previously the managing editor of Sun in the UK, a newspaper famous for its racism, sexism and, of course, the disgusting lies it told about the Hillsborough disaster. He was forced to apologize for an article that compared migrants to cockroaches and “a plague of wild humans.”

“He apologized for the errors in a completely inaccurate and racist article, which had the front page headline that one in five British Muslims had sympathy for jihadists.”

Murphy added: “It does not bode well for the government’s declared opposition to the divisive policy.”

Kelly criticized the fact that the Coalition hired 64 advisers. “I can tell the Taoiseach directly that if he was standing where I am standing, he would be giving yards on this.

“In the past when this issue was raised, the Taoiseach talked about how the Labor Party and others brought in program managers 30 or 40 years ago. The proportionality is a little different. The volume here is incredible,” he said. .

Mr. Martin said that the government program outlined that each of the three parties in government would appoint a press secretary. “When there are parties with different perspectives in the government, and this is a tripartite government, it is necessary to ensure that the policy program, according to the government program, and the perspectives of the parties are met.”

Clarkson later declined to comment.