Tánaiste’s future on hold as Fianna Fáil awaits trawl results
FIANNA FÁIL will await the outcome of a documents trawl through the Department of Justice for more incriminating evidence before deciding whether to oust the Tánaiste.
But Micheál Martin signalled last night that he was preparing to do so, telling the Dáil of his view on Frances Fitzgerald’s attitude to Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
‘She may not have thrown him to the wolves but she allowed them free reign,’ Mr Martin said.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar further isolated Ms Fitzgerald by ordering a fresh fishing expedition in Department files, insisting: ‘I’ve nobody I am trying to protect.’
He added that he had been twice misled by the Department of Justice in the last two weeks, adding further impetus to the trawl. He said he was ‘not satisfied’ at being given ‘incomplete information’.
That reference could also apply to his own relations with Ms Fitzgerald, who failed to put him fully in the picture over two recent phone calls placed by the Taoiseach in the last ten days.
It has led to Mr Varadkar now correcting the Dáil record on three occasions. However, he declared in testy further exchanges in the chamber yesterday: ‘Yes, I’ve full confidence in the Tánaiste.’
Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin both held parliamentary party meetings last night to discuss the latest revelations – but, with Sgt McCabe himself withholding criticism after a personal phone call from the Taoiseach, decided to sit tight.
Mr Martin told his colleagues at their meeting last night that ‘further time and space’ was needed to deal with the issue.
Sinn Féin introduced a motion of noconfidence in the Tánaiste in February while she was Minister for Justice. While the six-month waiting period before introducing another such motion has now expired, the party has opted to await further developments before taking action.
Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said: ‘There are now serious questions over the competence and credibility of An Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and I think his (Leo Varadkar’s) strategy has been precisely to protect her and her Government in this saga.’
The email, which the Tánaiste claims she forgets reading, brought to her attention a deliberate strategy by former Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan to undermine and attack the credibility of Maurice McCabe, Ms McDonald said. She added: ‘It is also clear that the Tánaiste was made aware that the Garda legal team intended using serious criminal allegations against Sgt McCabe which they knew and, more to the point, she knew had been disproved.’
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste last night told the Seanad she shared the outrage of others when she read about the alleged treatment of some whistleblowers. She said: ‘(Sgt McCabe) is due the gratitude, not only of the general public, but also of An Garda Síochána and of this House.’
However, Fianna Fáil’s Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee said it was clear ‘that you actually allowed [Nóirín O’Sullivan] and her legal team to use information that had been disproved to diminish his reputation’.