Councillor apologises for sharing image of spoiled ballot paper

DUBLIN South Central councillor Philip Sutcliffe (Ind) apologised for sharing an image of a spoiled ballot paper containing slurs.

Mr Sutcliffe said the photo was shared accidentally on his social media accounts on polling day and that he was unaware that it had been circulated in his name.

On his Instagram account, Mr Sutcliffe said he is not very familiar with how social media works and that he understood how upsetting the post was.

The picture was of a spoiled vote which contained racist and anti-LGBTI+ comments, and derogatory comments about the Presidential Election candidates.

In a written statement to his fellow Dublin City Councillors which was read onto the record of the monthly council meeting by the Lord Mayor, the former boxing coach said he would never share anything like the image which he said was not his own ballot paper.

Reading out Sutcliffe’s statement, Lord Mayor Ray McAdam said: “The post had been forwarded to me and I was also tagged in it, and it was accidentally shared on my accounts. I wasn’t aware it had gone up on my social media account.”

Cllr Daithí Doolan (SF) described the apology as “half-hearted and mealy mouthed” and he said the language used on the spoiled vote was “not acceptable” and “wrong.”

Doolan felt Sutcliffe should have “took responsibility” by reading it out himself.

On his Instagram account, Sutcliffe, who won a seat in the 2024 local elections in Drimnagh-Ballyfermot, said it was a “honest mistake” and that he will “make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”