A senator and European election candidate has attempted to divert internet traffic for the Ideas Campaign to his own site, the Sunday Tribune has learned.

The Ideas Campaign, run by businesswoman Aileen O'Toole, is a forum for ideas to kickstart the economy, and has received major publicity and internet traffic since its high-profile launch after an appearance on RTÉ's Prime Time.

Labour senator Alan Kelly bought the keywords 'Aileen O'Toole' and 'Ideas Campaign' on Google, which meant his site was the first result to appear in a Google search for O'Toole or the campaign.

The tactic is one often used in business to divert traffic to a particular site and away from that of a rival. However, the Ideas Campaign is a not-for-profit organisation, set up for the wider interests of the economy.

Kelly, a candidate for the South in the forthcoming European election, has a campaign of his own called New Ideas and he has organised a conference on economic matters. The site to which traffic was diverted was advertising his conference.

When contacted, Kelly refused to address the matter of whether he had bought the keywords. He said he would respond through a statement, but failed to confirm or deny the purchase of the keywords in the statement.

O'Toole declined to comment but a posting on the Ideas Campaign website expressed "disappointment" at Kelly's tactic, and pointed out that the campaign was "non-political".