Tánaiste Simon Harris has defended the Fine Gael video which questions the work of presidential candidate Catherine Connolly as a barrister during the economic crash.
He said he has no regrets about this when asked on his way into Cabinet as he criticised the Independent presidential candidate.
“No, what I’ve regret about is we have a presidential candidate who won’t answer questions,” Mr Harris said.
He said he fully understands the role of a barrister, but added that it is important people “are consistent in terms of their public utterances.”
“There are lines quoted in the national media today in a national newspaper from people in Galway that describe one of our presidential candidates as ruthless and relentless in her pursuit of family homes.
“I can’t answer that, you can’t answer that, it would be really good if she answered that.”
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He said there will be an opportunity for her to answer these questions during tonight’s debate on RTÉ’s Prime Time.
Mr Harris also said it is a “much narrower field” between the two candidates than people expected.
He said Irish people take their vote “very seriously” and are thinking things through.
Yesterday, Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys again accused her opponent of double standards for representing banks as a barrister in repossession cases while criticising them as an elected representative.
Ms Connolly said that Fine Gael was “absolutely terrified” by her growing campaign, has gone “negative” and attacked her work as a barrister.
She said the Bar Council had clarified “on more than one occasion” how barristers cannot be connected to the people who they represent in court, adding “but Fine Gael are still resorting to these tactics”.