Fine Gael minister Paschal Donohoe has insisted that no government business was discussed during an undisclosed personal dinner with Ryanair Chief Michael O’Leary.The Irish Times reported earlier this week that Mr Donohoe and Mr O’Leary held a “private and previously undisclosed dinner meeting at an upmarket Dublin restaurant” in February 2022. It was not included in his ministerial diary, which is published regularly, nor was the dinner detailed in a return to the lobbying register.
Speaking in Dublin on Friday morning, Mr Donohoe insisted that no official business was discussed. He also said he would not refer to Mr O’Leary as a “friend”. Sinn Féin’s finance spokesman Pearse Doherty said on Friday that Mr Donohoe needed to “come clean” on his meeting with Mr O’Leary. This is the second time Mr O’Leary has featured in Fine Gael’s election campaign. He hit headlines earlier this month over comments he made about teachers at Peter Burke’s campaign launch.