‘I’ve got unfinished business’ – Kilkenny TD John McGuinness turns down chance to become MEP
OUTSPOKEN Kilkenny TD John McGuinness has turned down a nomination to contest the European Parliament Elections.
The high-profile politician – who has been a vocal critic of Fianna Fáil party leader Micheál Martin – received the nomination from party members in the Ireland South Constituency.
However Deputy McGuinness, who is the current Chairperson of the Oireachtas Finance Committee, insists that his priority is to remain in the Dáil.
He said he was honoured to get the nomination, but has “unfinished work” in Leinster House.
Deputy McGuinness has publicly spoken out against the extension of the confidence-and-supply deal with Fine Gael since it was agreed by his party leader last December.
He was also recently involved in a heated row with a senior Fianna Fáil colleague, Barry Cowen, during a stormy parliamentary party meeting.
The row erupted after Cowen some figures in the party for speaking in a “personal capacity”. These remarks was understood to be aimed at Deputy McGuinness, Sligo-Leitrim TD Marc MacSharry and Laois TD Seán Fleming, the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee.
The Kilkenny TD reportedly responded furiously to Cowen’s remarks, with the Kilkenny TD reportedly saying he would not be “bullied, intimidated… [or] embarrassed”.
