Politician fails two breath tests

Martin Ferris said he thought he was under the limit

A Sinn Fein politician has said he is "embarrassed and disappointed" at his arrest on suspicion of drink-driving.

Kerry North TD Martin Ferris said he thought he was under the limit after drinking a glass of wine and two pints before being stopped at a checkpoint.

He failed breath tests and will have to wait two weeks for urine test results to see if he will be prosecuted.

"I am worried and I'm embarrassed, obviously, and I'm very disappointed in myself for what has happened," he said.

"It might be a good thing long term, not just for me but for other people out there, that there's the possibility that even with two drinks that you may fail a breathalyser.

"I suppose the only way you are safe is not to have any drink."

The former IRA gun-runner said he drank a glass of red wine with his daughter during dinner on Saturday night before going to the racetrack in Tralee where he drank three bottles of water.

Mr Ferris said he later went to Ardfert where he had two pints.

"I saw the gardai, I got into my car, I thought I was OK, well under the limit," he told Kerry Radio.

"They stopped me, they asked me to blow into the breathalyser, I did, and it came up failed."

'Fiercely embarrassed'

Mr Ferris said he was asked to give a second breath sample in the car, which he failed again.

He was arrested on suspicion and brought to Tralee Garda Station where a doctor was called to take a urine sample before Mr Ferris was released.

The TD said he was shocked that he failed the breath test.

"Obviously I'm fiercely embarrassed and disappointed with my actions," he said.

"I await the results of test and I'm hoping that it will come back OK, and if not I put my hands up."

Mr Ferris said there was an onus on all people in public life to show example, but hoped voters in the upcoming general election would not judge him.

He commended the gardai for doing their job, adding if found to be over the limit he would owe his constituents and the general public a huge apology.

Mr Ferris was elected to Kerry County Council and Tralee Council in 1999 and to the Irish parliament for Kerry North in 2002.

However, he was also jailed for ten years for his part in an IRA gun-running operation after the Irish Navy intercepted a trawler off the Kerry coast in September 1984 with seven tons of weaponry in its hold.

The arms shipment had been smuggled from America across the Atlantic in a fishing boat.