Fine Gael has done a U-turn on its decision to pause the constituency voting divide between Richard Bruton and his running mate Senator Catherine Noone, who was involved in controversy earlier this week for calling Taoiseach Leo Varadkar “autistic”. Mr Bruton, the Minister for Communications, and Ms Noone are standing for the party in five-seat Dublin Bay North. Local sources in Dublin Bay North and national sources at the top of the party told The Irish Times the constituency divide had been “paused”. However, the party later did a U-turn on this decision with Mr Bruton even claiming suggestions of a pause in the divide were a “fabrication”. Last night Fine Gael did not respond to requests for comment on the voting divide.

Source: The Irish Times January 29, 2020 19:14 UTC