McGOWAN CLAIM:DUBLIN NORTH TDs have insisted that they were not contacted by Dominic McGowan, the constituent on whose behalf Trevor Sargent wrote to gardaí. Mr McGowan said he contacted two TDs.
Mr McGowan told Newstalk 106-108yesterday: "I . . . went to my local politicians . . . I contacted two TDs in my local area". Asked what the other TD had done, Mr McGowan said: "Never got back to me."
Fianna Fáil TD Michael Kennedy said he was sure that Mr McGowan had “absolutely positively not” contacted him after checking his records on Tuesday night. Mr Kennedy’s Fianna Fáil colleague Darragh O’Brien said he too had examined his files and found no evidence of contact from Mr McGowan. “I don’t know him from Adam,” he said.
Fine Gael TD Dr James Reilly said his records had also been checked and “absolutely no contact” had been uncovered “either electronically or on paper”. He added: “I’ve no recollection of him nor have any of my staff.”
Mr McGowan said on Tuesday he had no connections with the Green Party, “but I contacted numerous politicians about the situation that took place. It was just that Mr Sargent was the only one that got back to me”.
Senator Brendan Ryan of Labour, who is based in the constituency, also said Mr McGowan had not contacted him.
Independent councillors based in Balbriggan, May McKeon and David O’Connor, said he had not been in touch, while Labour’s Ciarán Byrne said he could recall no contact.
Balbriggan town councillors including Cathaoirleach Monica Harford of Labour and Fine Gael’s Larry Dunne also said Mr McGowan had made no attempt to reach them. The three Dublin North TDs paid tribute to their constituency colleague Mr Sargent in statements on Tuesday.
