Those of you eligible to vote in the forthcoming elections for Newbridge Town Council in County Kildare might want to consider the impressive political credentials of Fine Gael candidate Emma Kiernan.

Ms Kiernan, 27, seen here on the Fine Gael website, was recently out celebrating a chum's 30th birthday, and took time to strike this "playful pose", as a shocked Leinster Leader puts it:

The snap subsequently surfaced on Facebook, causing the kind of political excitement not seen in the Emerald Isle since, well, the dawn of recorded time.

Kiernan defended that the photo was "was posted on a friend's Facebook page without her knowledge" and as soon as it escaped into the wild, she asked her pal to remove it.

She admitted that it is "not a great" snap, but rather improbably offered: "I'm actually surprised that anyone was interested in that photograph."

As our Irish informant put it: "I know who I'm voting for." ®

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