Never one to shy away from controversy, former Minister for the Environment and Irish Water aficionado Alan Kelly has today challenged newly elected Labour leader Brendan Howlin to a public showdown, following Kelly’s crushing defeat of his leadership bid.
Mr. Kelly has challenged Mr. Howlin to take back and deny his statement that he threatened to stand aside if a leadership contest took place.
Mr. Howlin became the Labour leader pretty much by default after Mr. Kelly failed to obtain a single nomination for his own bid. He has so far strenously denied that he ever made the comments attributed to him by Mr. Kelly.
According to Mr. Kelly, however, Mr. Howlin’s assertion became the reason why he failed so spectacularly in the recent leadership shift.
The Labour party has been in complete disarray after a disastrous election results that saw them lose 30 seats.