Fine Gael TD John Deasy has lashed out at the “bitching” of his own local party supporters and called for the local organisation to be “stood down”.
Deasy, 51, is facing a war in Waterford with grassroots party members who are staunch allies of Paudie Coffey.
Mr Coffey is a party Senator in the constituency, but he is a bitter rival of Mr Deasy.
The long-running row escalated this week after Coffey supporters successfully passed a motion of no confidence in Mr Deasy as their TD in the area.
A brother of Mr Coffey lodged the motion.
Mr Deasy was not at the meeting on Monday night, but he spoke his silence when he told the Irish Examiner that he wasn’t surprised at the motion because he was used to the “constant bitching” behind his back.
“The entire Waterford organisation needs to be stood down and reviewed by headquarters. “Repeated warnings have been given by myself and others with regard to the behaviour of individuals in Waterford for years now.
“This is well beyond typical inter-party, internecine rivalries.”
He is also critical of party HQ for letting the situation locally fester.
“Everyone in Fine Gael at the highest levels understands what’s been going on in Waterford for years, but have continually ignored it.”
Mr Deasy is favoured by party headquarters and was appointed as our man in Washington, special envoy, by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar two years ago.
This made up for his being passed over when the ministers’ jobs were doled out in the summer of 2016.
He is the son of former Minister for Agriculture, Austin Deasy, and took his seat when he retired in 2002.
Mr Deasy was one of a select few Irish politicians who was invited to dine with US President, Donald Trump, at Doonbeg recently.
Mr Deasy is concentrating all his lobbying efforts in the States on securing extra visas for Irish emigrants, and on further protections for illegal immigrants already living in America.
He is now a regular in the corridors of power on Capitol Hill and is well-got among the Irish-American business and political community.
However, his absence in America is playing badly among some local members as he has less time to deal with constituency issues.
This culminated this week in the vote of no confidence in him which was organised by his enemies in the local party organisation.
Tensions boiled over between Mr Coffey and another local Fine Gael representative last year.
The High Courts was the venue for a defamation case taken by Mr Coffey against a local newspaper over comments allegedly made by John Paul Phelan, a junior minister in government.
Mr Coffey read in the Kilkenny People a headline describing him as “Coffey the Robber” over a piece reporting on constituency boundaries.
The headline was paraphrasing quotes from an interview with Mr Phelan.
The jury in December failed to reach a verdict.
