‘Reckless politics’: FG stands by its woman
FINE Gael ministers and TDs came out swinging yesterday in defence of Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, branding the no-confidence motion against her ‘reckless politics’.
The party’s strategy now appears to be to convince the public that any election will be entirely the doing of Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin, which it says are playing politics at a time when far greater challenges face the country.
In a robust defence of the embattled Tánaiste, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said: ‘Frances Fitzgerald is a politician and person who has spared no effort in trying to do the right thing in any issue she has been involved with.
‘I think it is gravely unfair, with all the Tánaiste has gone through, and the work she has done for many years, to now place the responsibility for this on her shoulders.’
Mr Donohoe said it was ‘unconscionable’ that the country would go to the polls three weeks ahead of a crucial Brexit summit where ‘decisions will need to be made that will reverberate in our country for decades to come’.
He also questioned the motivation of the ‘Fianna Fáil locker room’, after some of the party’s TDs were heard cheering as the party’s justice spokesman, Jim O’Callaghan, said during an interview on Thursday evening’s Six One news bulletin that Ms Fitzgerald should go.
‘The prospect of either an election taking place or a government not being in place afterwards to deal with the challenges [such as Brexit], and also some of the opportunities that are available to our country, is actually unconscionable,’ he said.
‘The agenda that is at play here is one of political interest in Dáil Éireann. I’ve heard again and again stories of Fianna Fáil TDs cheering on Deputy O’Callaghan when he was on the six o’clock news last night... Would the border communities on our island be cheering on as potentially irrevocable decisions are being made without a functioning government in place in Dublin?
‘Will small businesses be cheering on as they’re uncertain what their trading relationship will be like with the UK? How we’ll engage with the single market? These are historic decisions.’
When it was put to him that Micheál Martin’s patience had worn thin with the litany of scandals in the Justice Department since Fine Gael took office, Mr Donohoe went on the defensive, pointing to all the reform efforts Fine Gael had made.
‘Fine Gael is the party that brought in the whistleblower legislation, Fine Gael is the party that set up an Independent Policing Authority that increasingly, Fianna Fáil acknowledges, is central to responding back to the cultural challenges that we must address in an Garda Síochána,’ he said.
He said Fine Gael was the party in power and Frances Fitzgerald was the minister ‘who negotiated the terms of reference in relation to the Charleton Tribunal [which is investigating
whether whistleblower Maurice McCabe was the subject of a smear campaign], which is under way to deal with these matters.’
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney accused the opposition of trying to hold a tribunal on the floor of the Dáil, while Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty appealed to Fianna Fail not to trigger an election. She said: ‘I would beg Fianna Fáil – do not bring us to the polls. I’m asking publicly on the airwaves for Fianna Fáil to step back...This stopped being about Frances Fitzgerald days ago. I’m still scratching my head trying to figure out what the charge is against Frances Fitzgerald,’ she told RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke.
But Fine Gael TD John Deasy went on the offensive, insinuating that Mr Martin’s hand been forced by rogue elements in his party. ‘This is really about Fianna Fáil internal politics,’ he said. ‘This goes back to earlier this year, [back to] Maurice McCabe [when] the issue arose.
‘After it passed, and Fianna Fáil didn’t take the opportunity to go [for an election] while Enda Kenny was taoiseach, there was a lot of internal hemming and hawing and criticism of Micheál for not taking the opportunity. That has built since then.
‘It just kicked off on Monday. A decision had to be made by Micheál as to how to act and react to this .... His rationale, his calculation was that if he didn’t go this time, then he was definitely damaged.’
Mr Deasy said he had supported Garda whistleblowers since his days on the Public Accounts Committee, and would not support the Tánaiste if he believed she had done anything wrong.
Four Fine Gael junior ministers have also come out strongly in support of Minister Fitzgerald and said she should not resign.
Minister of State Michael D’Arcy accused Sinn Féin of ‘political terrorism’ and Fianna Fáil of ‘political vandalism’, while Minister of State Pat Breen said the current controversy represented ‘politics at its lowest ebb’.They and colleagues were speaking in Kilkenny at separate events.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Housing John Paul Phelan said TDs might go home for the weekend and find the general public ‘not as exercised about the email controversy as Leinster House. Some might pull back...’
Later yesterday, Minister Michael Ring took to the airwaves to recall the legacy of the last Fianna Fáil government. He said that in 2010 ‘Brian Cowen came before the Dáil to tell the people of this country that the IMF were here.
‘That’s the mess Fianna Fáil left, and the last government and this Government had to pick up the pieces. We don’t want a situation at this very crucial... time in this country, when we have very serious negotiations going on about Brexit.’