How cosy are Frau Angela and Herr Enda?
Thursday May 03 2007
Fianna Fail suggests the reason Angela Merkel is backing Enda Kenny for Taoiseach may be because Fine Gael had some of their posters printed in Germany.
Fine Gael was snubbing Irish workers, they said, by exporting their contract to German printers.
The German Chancellor surprisingly backed Fine Gael in the unprecedented recent intervention into the general election campaign. And one in every six euros spent on Fine Gael posters went to Germany: €90,000 out of their €540,000 spend.
Fianna Fail Senator Martin Mansergh suspects a connection with Chancellor Merkel's public endorsement of Fine Gael.
"Fine Gael have been prepared to abandon totally Irish neutrality, and at times sign up to a far-reaching federalist agenda," the Tipperary South candidate said.
When asked if Fine Gael is now a German CDU client party, a party spokesman said: "Nein".
Fine Gael said one sixth of its posters were printed in Germany after a competitive tendering process, with the rest contracted to Irish companies.
"We got in quotes from a number of different suppliers," he said.
