Fine Gael he stepped up his defenses Louth candidate John McGahon in the face of widespread criticism from rival parties on his fitness, arguing his acquittal on criminal charges is the relevant test.

For the second day in a row, Taoiseach Simon Harris and senior colleagues were forced to defend the 34-year-old senator after video emerged showing him punching a man repeatedly in the head during a late-night incident in 2018. Contemporary images of the victim, Breen Whiteshowing extensive facial bruising were also published in a newspaper on Sunday.

The controversy dominated sections of 10-way television RTÉ Monday night leaders debate Mr Harris has repeatedly asked to defend Mr McGahon and the party’s decision to endorse him as a candidate.

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Mr McGahon faced charges of assault causing bodily harm following the incident, but was acquitted by a jury when the case went to trial in 2022. However, in a civil action brought by Mr White, a jury found in May 2024 that Senator Louth was 65 percent responsible for the attack. He was forced to pay the victim 39,000 euros in damages. He was elected as the candidate for the five-seat constituency after the civil case ended.

Mr Harris argued that the standard of suitability as a candidate should be based on criminal rather than civil courts.

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“The jury reviewed all the footage and a judge reviewed all the footage and a jury acquitted him,” he said. “This must be the standard we maintain in terms of our criminal justice system in Ireland.”

But the leaders of the other two major parties, Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, rejected Mr Harris’ description of the incident as a brawl. Both said separately that Mr McGahon would not have been accepted as a candidate if he had been a member of their parties.

Asked about the Taoiseach’s staunch defense of Mr McGahon, Mr Martin said: “I am surprised by his decision to double down on this candidacy.”

Commenting on the footage, Ms McDonald said: “It appears to be very disturbing and very violent, lots of blows to the victim’s head. It’s very shocking to see someone in public life behaving like this.”

Mr Martin said what he saw in the video was a “vicious attack”.

“I was shocked to see the photo. There were cuts and bruises. I didn’t understand that was the nature and severity of the attack.”

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Mr Harris and senior colleagues, including Paschal Donohoe, continued to stress that Mr McGahon had been acquitted by a jury of his peers in interviews on Monday.

Mr McGahon did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. There was no indication that his name had been withdrawn as a candidate as the nomination deadline closed.

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Social Democrat deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan stood in for party leader Holly Cairns in the debate. Ms Cairns is expecting her first child this weekend.

The Labor Party launched its manifesto on Monday and pledged to spend €6bn of Apple’s tax fund to set up a state-owned construction company to build on state-owned land. He also promised a living wage that would be 60 percent of average hourly earnings.