Fianna Fail TD Michael McGrath makes risque Facebook gaffe.



Prominent Irish politician and opposition finance spokesperson Michael McGrath was lighting up Twitter over the weekend after a status update announced his fondness for an adult Facebook page was inadvertently posted through his own official social networking account.

McGrath's Facebook page posted an update announcing his like of the 'MILFS of the Day' account shortly.

The page has over 83,000 likes on the social networking platform and features softcore pictures of older women in erotic poses.

The story was covered on popular Irish news website Broadsheet.ie shortly after it was broad to their attention.

The news also prompted a thread on popular political discussion forum Politics.ie where one user speculated whether the Cork TD would blame the mishap on "a passing comet interfering with his computer."

Reaction on Twitter ranged from amusement at McGrath's extra-political interests to outrage that the status had been posted through a Facebook page he reserves for dealing with constituent matters and other political affairs.

McGrath is particularly active on Facebook and other forms of social networking, but the only remaining evidence of that presence this afternoon was a saved cache after the page was hastily pulled down following the slip.

No reaction has been forthcoming from the senior Fianna Fáil spokesperson this afternoon.

The embarrassing ordeal will likely give other Irish politicians pause for thought about their engagement with constituents through the ever-growing social media channels, where minute changes to privacy settings can mean the difference between broadcasting an update to tens of thousands of 'fans' or keeping it quietly to yourself.

Research published this summer showed that 146 of the parliament's deputies were active on Twitter to varying extents, with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams emerging as the surprise top-dog, commanding a following of over 37,000 users on the network.

The research also found that the incumbent Fine Gael party was the leading user of the platform, with 100 percent of its TDs maintaining an active account.