Duffy says he regrets being involved in road incidents

Gavin Duffy said it was time to quit consensus politics

Presidential candidate Gavin Duffy has said he regrets being involved in a number of road traffic incidents, particularly one in 1993 when he was 33.

Mr Duffy was previously involved in a collision in 1978, where a woman was seriously injured.

Mr Duffy was not insured to drive the vehicle involved in the collision and was prosecuted.

Although he said it did not excuse his actions, he said that as a much younger man working in pirate radio, he probably did not have the respect for the law that he should have had.

In 1993 Mr Duffy was convicted for dangerous driving. By that stage in his life, he said, he was married and should have matured.

However, he stressed that he has "always put my hand up and apologised" for wrongdoing and said he lives with it all the time.

Meanwhile, Mr Duffy has questioned why AIB is being sold, asking why the Government is selling the "biggest cash cow in the country to foreigners".

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O'Rourke, he said it was time to quit consensus politics.

Mr Duffy said that Ireland is changing dramatically and he believes it is on the "cusp of becoming a true Republic" and a secular society.

Mr Duffy added that he would have produced a position paper on "State and Faith" before the election on 26 October.

He said that he would bring an energy to the Brexit scenario, adding that if a deal is not hammered out fairly quickly, the Irish economy would suffer and there was not "room for a wobble".

Mr Duffy accused RTÉ of being a "fan club" for Michael D Higgins, which was denied by presenter Sean O'Rourke.

When asked, he said he had never had to make a settlement with Revenue and said he had always operated his business with the "utmost integrity".