Photo of Fine Gael by-election candidate and a person who appeared to be begging removed from Twitter as it gave ‘wrong impression’ of party

A photograph of Dublin Bay South by-election candidate James Geoghegan and a person who appeared to be begging was removed from Twitter as it gave the “wrong impression” of Fine Gael.

The photo, which featured the Dublin City councillor, Higher Education Minister Simon Harris and MEP Frances Fitzgerald, was posted on Ms Fitzgerald’s Twitter account.

After users pointed out that a person who appears to be begging can be seen in the background, the photograph was later removed.

“I know what impression has been left by a photograph like that, which is obviously the wrong impression that either I or Fine Gael don’t care about vulnerable people,” Cllr Geoghegan told Independent.ie.

“That certainly is not the impression that my record in Dublin City Council demonstrates and it’s certainly not the impression that I’d like to be left as part of this campaign.”

Cllr Geoghegan said he did not see the photograph before it was posted.

He added that the person who took the photo did not “look at the environment around us”.

“They took a photograph of the three of us standing in the green. They clearly didn’t look at the environment around us and you know, they took a decision to take that photograph down because obviously it gave false impression that somehow I, Frances, Simon or Fine Gael don’t care about vulnerable people. Which obviously is false,” he added.

“I did not see it before it was posted, I was out campaigning in Ranelagh and then I went to Rathgar and then Terenure and it was only when I came home that I saw it.”

Ms Fitzgerald had not returned calls from Independent.ie at the time of publication.