Local election: The Government introduced last-minute regulations two days before the close of local election nominations to enable up to 30 local authority staff members to run in the election.
The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael organisations in Co Mayo are embroiled in a row following the move last week by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen.
A long-standing Fianna Fáil councillor, Mr Jimmy Maloney, has accused Fine Gael of dirty tricks after solicitors acting for a former Fine Gael councillor, Mr Seán McEvoy, questioned the validity of his candidacy in a letter to the Co Mayo returning officer on the day nominations closed.
The returning officer, Mr John Condon, subsequently confirmed in a letter to Mr McEvoy's solicitors that Mr Maloney's candidacy was indeed valid due a Statutory Instrument introduced by Mr Cullen.
Mr Maloney, a waterworks and sewage works caretaker in Foxford, is well-known locally as a prominent supporter of Ms Beverley Flynn during her attempts to avoid expulsion from Fianna Fáil. He lodged his nomination on Thursday, May 20th.
A day earlier, Mr Cullen signed a Statutory Instrument under the Local Government Act of 2001 that removed a ban on certain local authority staff members becoming elected members of an authority.
While Fine Gael claims Mr Maloney was ineligible for a nomination before the regulation was passed, Mr Cullen's spokesman said yesterday that he was not acting on a specific request from any candidate in introducing the measures.
He said similar regulations had been introduced by other environment ministers to remove restrictions on authority members becoming elected members which applied before the 2001 Act was passed.
However, Fine Gael claimed Mr Cullen "conveniently changed the rules" in an "11th hour intervention" to facilitate Mr Maloney and other local election candidates.
Fine Gael said that as Mr Cullen is Fianna Fáil director of elections, he would have been aware of the status of some of the party's candidates in moving the Statutory Instrument before the close of nominations.
However, Mr Maloney said that the order affected candidates from every party and the independents.