Fine Gael Senator Nikki Bradley has asked for forgiveness for her comments over negative attitudes in Donegal.
The Milford candidate’s comments went viral on Saturday as she remarked on “moaning and groaning” among the electorate over certain issues.
Bradley says her media interviews were wrongly tied in with the bigger issues such as defective blocks and other issues.
“I want to apologise, to the people of Donegal in general and the people that voted for me,” Senator Bradley told Donegal Daily.
“If there’s anybody that voted for me and now feels disappointed by what they saw over the weekend, I want to clarify that how it came across was absolutely not how I intended it.
“Having spent 11+ years working with my Fighting Fit for Ewings campaign and working with national disability charities, I have been working incredibly hard to try and improve situations for people.
“I let myself down with how I worded everything.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I didn’t realise how it came across until I saw it back.”
In an interview with Donegal Daily on Saturday, Nikki acknowledged that she was being ‘controversial’ when she said: “There is a little bit of moaning and groaning going on about certain issues. I think if people could just stop and take a second and concentrate on what I do have rather than always what I don’t have.”
Bradley echoed the same comments on radio and social media, sparking an onslaught of anger.
“I was actually trying to be quite positive and remind people that we live in an amazing place,” she said today.
“What I meant by that was we are proud to be from Donegal and we have so much going for us.
“I understand the way I worded it, it made it look like I was almost talking about the bigger issues of the county”.
Senator Bradley said the incident is been a learning opportunity for her as she moves forward to seek re-election to the Seanad.
“Politics is a very different world. That fact I am new to all of this, even if your intentions are pure, the way you word things can be picked up wrong. That is exactly what happened,” she said.
“I ask for people to, if they can find it in their hearts, to forgive me for speaking out of turn.”
Senator Bradley was the second last candidate to be eliminated in Donegal, bowing out in the fourteenth count with 6,176 overall votes.
“We are proud we got the result we did,” she said. As a first time candidate we were very proud of the votes that came in and I am still determined from today onwards, work continues and I’m determined to continue to be a voice for Donegal. I will be fighting to get back into the Seanad so we can have a voice in the Seanad.
“I am so grateful to my team and the hard work and dedication they’ve shown over the last couple of weeks and months.”
