‘It looked like the GAA was backing Fine Gael’ – Candidate forced to remove player support video

The players were put at risk of disciplinary action by the party’s stunt.

Cork County Board chiefs told the party’s MEP candidate to take down a video featuring two players in county jerseys.

Former GAA President Seán Kelly is the sitting Fine Gael MEP and expected to top the poll in the European elections in Ireland South.

But his running mate John Mullins is struggling to hold the seat vacated by Deirdre Clune, despite spending significant sums on his campaign.

Hurling stars Seamus Harnedy and Ciarán Joyce appeared in a video yesterday for Mr Mullins.

“Thanks for the shout out, Seamus Harnedy & Ciaran Joyce from the Cork Senior Hurling Panel. For a strong, capable voice, vote John Mullins 1 on Friday. #Cork,” the post on social media said.

The video was taken down within hours following an intervention by GAA chiefs in the county.

“It looked like Cork GAA was endorsing one candidate, one way or another, and Fine Gael. Once he went with the Cork colours, they strayed offside. He put the players at risk and they could have got into trouble. They were innocent parties in all of this. We’re not endorsing any candidate in this race,” a local GAA source said.

“Without going into the Frank Murphy rulebook, you’d have to recognise they were offside,” the source added.

Frank Murphy was the long-standing secretary of Cork GAA, often associated with rule changes.

Cork County Board declined to say what action was taken.

“The bottom line is we are not making any comment,” an official said.

Mr Mullins is a director of Páirc Uí Chaoimh and describes himself as a GAA fan.

Fine Gael was contacted for comment.