A former Fine Gael county councillor who was expelled from the party in 2020, and is standing as an independent in the General Election in Mayo, has issued a statement through his solicitors.
The statement to RTÉ comes in response to media stories on why he was expelled from the party.
In it, Councillor Patsy O'Brien states that in 2019 a message was sent to an individual employed by TD Hildegarde Naughton.
"The text was generic and viral at the time and was sent in error by me for which I apologized for," Cllr O'Brien said.
"At the time I was requested to send a photo of a constituent who had queries for the constituency representative," he added.
The statement from Councillor O'Brien goes on to say that the "Whatsapp as sent was generic and viral at the time and was not of myself. It was brought to my attention some three months afterwards, a lot of texts that are sent in the workplace environment, amounts to workplace banter among colleagues and trusted friends".
The councillor says he is now examining "all documentation and paper reports that have circulated recently, more importantly the latest Fine Gael statement" on the matter, all of which the councillor has passed on to his legal team.
In that earlier statement from Fine Gael, it was stated that the party "received a complaint concerning Councillor O'Brien repeatedly sending... unsolicited pornographic material, which was degrading and graphic in nature," to a former female Oireachtas staff member.
The material "caused serious upset, alarm and distress" to the individual.
The statement goes on to say that a party committee found the councillor had sent "pornographic and sexually explicit material including videos to the staff member, while he was carrying out his work as a county councillor."
The party committee determined that Councillor O'Brien "acted in a manner which was contrary to the code of conduct of the Fine Gael party and expelled him from membership of the party."
