Former Swedish tennis star Bjorn Borg this week served Fine Gael notice of his displeasure after his image was used in the party's Seanad abolition campaign.
The party had to take down an image of Borg from its Facebook page after it recived complaints from his representatives. The image had been used without his consent. It had been part of a three-image campaign highlighting countries that had abolished their upper houses.
The image used was an iconic one of Borg celbrating a victory over his great rival John McEnroe in the Wimbledon men’s singles final in 1980.
The caption read "He seems happy. The Swedes got rid of their Senate in 1970."
A party spokeswoman today confirmed permission had not been sought for the use of any of the three images and that Borg’s was deleted from the Facebook page immediately upon reciept of the complaint.
She said the campaign had been intended to run for one day only.
Images of a Great Dane dog and Maori dancers were also selected by Fine Gael for the campaign.
Denmark abolished its upper house in 1953 under the terms of the new constitution enacted after the second World War, while New Zealand abolished its upper chamber, or legislative council, in 1951.
