Conor McMorrow

FIANNA Fáil TD Ned O'Keefe is at the centre of a major row in his Cork East constituency after he said he would not help a community to obtain new school buildings because he does not get any votes in the area.

The row erupted on local radio station C103 on Friday morning after O'Keefe claimed that Rathcormac national school should not be a priority for government funding because it has "a wonderful layout of portacabins".

O'Keefe made his controversial comments on Patricia Messinger's Cork Today programme, on which he said, "I'll prioritise as a politician for my own area the areas that I think are right and necessary and where I get my support from."

Messinger asked O'Keefe if he only looked after people who gave him their vote. The Cork TD replied: "Equals being equals, I'll defend my own people. I have never been top of the list in Rathcormac so if Rathcormac wants me to support them, they can support me."

His comments sparked outrage on the airwaves and the local radio station was swamped with calls from angry parents in the area.

O'Keefe's comments on portacabins fuelled the row when he complimented the "architectural work" of the portacabins as they have a "wonderful layout" and are "well-engineered".

He continued: "There is no stigma attached to being taught in a portacabin. Many people in offices and administration across the country work in portacabins and they are delighted to have them."

Defending himself, the 66-year-old former junior minister said, "I have been right in many of the things I have said in the last five to seven years, even on the economy, so I am not prepared to stand back and listen to people abusing me and telling me this, that and the other thing."

Claire Flynn, chairwoman of Rathcormac Parents' Association, came on the radio and said: "I want to ask Ned O'Keefe, how come our children go in there and they are passing out with the heat during the summer and in winter we have to put coats on our kids to keep them warm in the portacabins?"

But O'Keefe stood his ground and said that "you get the tallies and you will see I was never very welcome in Rathcormac".