Catherine Connolly confirms she used parliamentary allowance for Syria trip

By Bairbre Holmes, PA

Catherine Connolly confirmed she paid for her 2018 trip to Syria with part of her Parliamentary Activities Allowance (PAA).

Responding to criticism, she had given the impression the fact-finding mission had been paid for from personal funds, the presidential hopeful said: “I never gave that impression, that’s an allowance that’s given to every single independent TD.

“There are a number of different categories, and I tend to use it under policy and research. And that’s exactly what I did.”

Speaking to reporters she said the “average” person would understand what she had meant as they “know me exactly”.

She added: “I leave it up to the people.”

The PAA is paid to party leaders and independent TDs to cover expenses arising from parliamentary activities, including research.

Ms Connolly is reported to have spent almost 3,700 euros from the allowance for the trip.

The Galway TD travelled to the Middle Eastern country while it was still under the rule of Bashar al-Assad with ex-MEPs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.

Earlier in the day her political rival Heather Humphreys said of the trip: “I don’t know what facts she needed to find, because everybody knows that the head of state Assad was a brutal dictator.”