A proposed Labour party advertisement showing Micheal Martin and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams getting married outside Leinster House has been scrapped following outrage.

The advertisement, first covered by the Sunday Independent, was roundly criticised for its portrayal of the two party leaders postitioned behind a wedding cake accompanied by Independent Tds Richard Boyd Barrett, Paul Murphy, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly with the caption “This is one marriage we should vote NO to this year”.

The ad attempts to present the current Labour/Fine Gael Coalition as the only alternative to a Sinn Fein/ Fianna Fail government. “Vote Labour for a stable and balanced government,” reads the bottom text.

Senior Labour party sources were quick to distance themselves from the controversial poster, telling the Irish Independent that the ad was one of many ideas “tossed around” which attempted to make “a serious point in a light-hearted way.”

Both Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail expressed disappointment at Labour’s “negative campaigning”.