Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys has declined to say how she came to nominate a Co Donegal Fine Gael member to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma), or if she was aware at the time he was to become his party's candidate for the byelection in Seanad Éireann.

The Irish Times submitted a number of queries to Ms Humphreys in relation to her decision to appoint John McNulty to the board of Imma only six days before he was confirmed as Fine Gael's candidate for the vacancy left by the election of Deirdre Clune to the European Parliament.

Opposition parties, and some backbench members of Fine Gael and Labour, have portrayed the move as a "political stroke" intended to give Mr McNulty sufficient qualifications to be appointed on the Culture and Education panel of the Upper House.

GAA involvement

Mr McNulty owns a convenience store and filling station in Kilcar, Co Donegal, and is heavily involved in the GAA. He also has involvement in cultural and heritage projects.

Ms Humphreys yesterday emphasised his business background, but critics claimed that his appointment to Imma was designed to get him over the line in terms of qualification. If, as expected, he is elected to the Seanad next month, he will immediately have to resign from the Imma board.

In response to queries yesterday, Ms Humphreys reverted to the line she used during the Seanad debate on Tuesday saying she had no role in choosing Fine Gael’s candidate. However, she declined to respond to the question on whether or not she was aware if Mr McNulty would become a candidate at the time she appointed him.

Further queries

In relation to how his appointment came about, Ms Humphreys stated: “John McNulty was one of a number of people brought to the Minister’s attention in relation to potential board appointments.”

Her officials did not respond to further queries asking who brought Mr McNulty’s name to her attention and in what circumstances.

As Opposition TDs rained in with criticism, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar defended the appointment on the basis of business experience and a "regional balance". He denied it was a stroke.

Tánaiste Joan Burton, when asked, portrayed it as an internal problem for Fine Gael and said she would prefer if the appointments were made through the public appointments process. Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin accused the Government of a stroke and of dragging down the reputation of Imma.

“It’s very shabby, and I think it represents an undermining of the board itself and of the Imma, and also the Seanad. It seems extraordinary that in order to qualify a candidate to run for the Seanad that you would put on such a stroke in such a short space of time,” he said.