'We're Lucky To Be Alive' Says Dana

Independent Presidential candidate Dana Rosemary Scallon claims she is "lucky to be alive" after her campaign car suffered a tyre 'blow-out' on the motorway to Dublin, while further investigation suggests the incident was not an accident.

Dana was asleep in the back seat, with her husband Damien driving, when he suddenly lost control at about 100kph, several miles from the M4 toll, on the way to Dublin last night.

Her campaign team has claimed the tyre appears to have been punctured up to 15 times, not consistent with a standard 'blow-out'.

Mr Scallon said: "When you see the tyre it kind of sends home to us what were they trying to do - injure us or murder us? Along with doing that, they could have killed someone else."

"The AA man really examined the tyre and said he had never seen anything like it.

"He said 'I'm not an expert but it looks like it has been interfered with. There's no explanation for it."

The campaign car, a Peugeot 508 emblazoned with Dana posters, had been parked outside the Landmark Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, for several hours earlier in the day.

There were four people in the car including a cousin of Dana's and her brother Gerald Brown.

The former Eurovision winner said: "I think we are all very lucky to be here today. I never start a journey without saying a little prayer and I think we are all very lucky.

"As far as I'm concerned it was a very lucky escape."

Dana's campaign has been dogged with allegations surrounding her family and this latest twist sees claims that somebody deliberately tried to sabotage one of her campaign vehicles.

A dramatic statement made by the independent candidate, believed to be a direct result of sexual abuse allegations lodged against a family member in 2008 being uncovered, has already placed Dana in the spotlight.

She hinted that the allegations were about to emerge during a presidential debate last Wednesday night in which she described the claims as "malicious" and "vile".

(LB/BMcC)