A SINN Fein councillor has rejected a claim that he staged a photo with drug syringes as an election stunt.

Bray councillor John Brady said he was astonished that his Fine Gael rival Mick Glynn had questioned the authenticity of the photo which he supplied to the Wicklow Times newspaper and his own website.

The photo showed Mr Brady holding an open biscuit tin containing 30 syringes and other drug-related items, which he said were found in the back garden of a boarded-up council house in Fassaroe, Bray.

Mr Brady said he and a resident had retrieved the items because they posed a danger to children.

He made the find public to highlight the need for more action to combat the problem of drugs in communities, and to demand that boarded-up council houses be re-opened quicker and made available to families.

Mr Brady strongly rejected the "wild accusations" of his rival as "astonishing".

He said Mr Glynn should "climb out of his Utopia and into the real world".

Mr Brady said he became aware that the drug materials were behind the vacant house from a conversation that took place on Facebook in which people expressed concern about drug-taking at the property.

SCURRILOUS

Mr Brady said he went with a resident to the property the next morning and used litter-pickers to safely pick up the syringes and other materials, including discarded tablets, and placed them in a tin box.

He was photographed before handing over the box at Bray garda station. He said he did not know what was in the bottle.

Mr Brady said Mr Glynn should have examined the items at the garda station before making "scurrilous" accusations against him.

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