The draft ad appeared in The Sunday Independent this morning.
Labour have received a barrage of criticism this morning after a draft ad they proposed was published in the The Sunday Independent this morning.
Using the recent marriage equality referendum as the context, the ad depicts Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams and Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin as a gay couple on their wedding day. While the ad is intended to sway voters against any potential Sinn Fein/Fianna Fail government, it has certainly divided opinion online.
As a dad raising teenage boys to challenge homophobic remarks this puerile politicking is unacceptable. pic.twitter.com/nUpik8RJsl
— Colm Keaveney (@Colm_Keaveney) January 3, 2016
The image also features left-wing TDs Richard Boyd Barrett, Paul Murphy, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly as the wedding party.
Labour said that the draft advert was aimed at making a “serious point in a humorous way”.
Speaking with The Independent, a spokeswoman for Micheál Martin’s said that this campaign is an indication that Joan Burton’s party was “clutching at straws in desperation” and that “the stakes are very high for Labour, so they have to go for the negative campaign to get noticed,” she added. A Sinn Fein spokesman said that Labour was becoming “increasingly desperate”.
Naturally quite a few people on Twitter took umbrage with the advert.
@labour 'draft' ad in #Sindo is a) awful but b) draft. It may have never seen the light of day. So who leaked it? Qui Bono who benefits?
— Ann Marie (Sheerin) Part (@PartAnnMarie) January 3, 2016
I don't believe that THAT #Labour attack ad was ever seriously considered or approved at a senior level. Would like to know #SIndo's source.
— Joseph (@JsphGrrd) January 3, 2016
https://twitter.com/ronanburtenshaw/status/683584334457126912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/JTMD121/status/683489382754553856?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
I see @labour are making a mockary out of gay marriage and gay people through their desperation & foolish election campaigning.
— Ciarán Bolger (@cbolgerr) January 3, 2016
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