Noel Dempsey, TD and Minister for Transport of the Republic of Ireland, claimed that recent newspaper criticisms of his use of the Government jet from Dublin to Derry to attend last month’s MacGill Summer School have been exaggerated. Attending the annual Ógra Fianna Fáil Summer School in Queen’s Students’ Union on Saturday, Mr Dempsey also admitted that with “the wonderful benefit of hindsight” perhaps alternative arrangements may have been sought. The Irish Daily Mail estimated that the total cost of using the Government jet in this instance was in the region of €100,000. The summer school brought together young members of Fianna Fáil, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, with three sessions of discussion and debate taking place.
BY CONNOR DALY