Down to the wire as Leo holds firm
■ Varadkar stands by his embattled Tánaiste ■ Defiant Fitzgerald: ‘Tribunal will judge me’ ■ Christmas election is still on the cards
TÁNAISTE Frances Fitzgerald has vowed to fight on despite new emails raising questions about the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
In the face of wilting confidence from her Fine Gael colleagues, Ms Fitzgerald was given reassurances from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night that he will stand by her.
It comes after new emails revealed she was briefed on how to respond to media queries about the “aggressive stance” of ex-Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s legal team at the O’Higgins inquiry in 2015.
Following the release of the documents by the Department of Justice, there was a widespread expectation within Fine Gael that Ms Fitzgerald would step aside.
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney last night defended the Tánaiste, saying Fine Gael wanted breathing space for six weeks to allow her to give evidence to the Charleton tribunal. And Ms Fitzgerald tweeted: “The Tribunal will objectively judge the appropriateness of my conduct.”
Mr Varadkar and FF leader Micheál Martin held talks aimed at averting an election last night. They are due to resume today.
TÁNAISTE Frances Fitzgerald has vowed to fight on despite new emails raising questions about the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
In the face of wilting confidence from her Fine Gael colleagues, Ms Fitzgerald was given reassurances from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night that he will stand by her.
New emails revealed she was briefed on how to respond to media queries about the “aggressive stance” adopted by ex-Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s legal team at the O’Higgins inquiry in 2015.
Following the release of the documents by the Department of Justice, there was a widespread expectation within Fine Gael that Ms Fitzgerald would step aside. However, sources said the Taoiseach remained of the view that she should be entitled to “due process”.
And Ms Fitzgerald tweeted: “As Justice Minister I could not interfere with the O’Higgins Commission. This is confirmed twice in today’s documents and has been confirmed by the AG.”
She added that the Charleton Tribunal, which is investigating allegations of a Garda smear campaign against Sgt McCabe, will “objectively judge the appropriateness of my conduct”.
“I look forward to giving my evidence to the Tribunal early in January,” she said.
Her defiant stance raises the stakes in the battle between Mr Varadkar and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin ahead of a no-confidence debate in the Dáil tonight.
If Ms Fitzgerald does not step down, an election before Christmas is all but certain.
After days of standing fully behind Ms Fitzgerald, senior Fine Gael figures were last night distancing themselves from the controversy.
One senior minister said he was “deeply uneasy” that the Cabinet was forced to go out and defend the Tánaiste’s position despite not knowing the full facts behind the emails. The source said it raised major questions for Mr Varadkar.
Another minister predicted Mr Varadkar was likely to face a major backlash from within his own party ranks for his handling of the crisis.
“It’s a total mess from the top to the bottom,” said one Cabinet minister who had been sent out to publicly back Ms Fitzgerald in recent days.
However, Foreign Affairs
Minister Simon Coveney defended the Tánaiste, saying Fine Gael wanted breathing space for six weeks to allow her give evidence to the tribunal.
“The two emails that were published today were very clear, advising [her] strongly not to interfere with the Commission that was taking place.
“She would have been damned if she intervened and damned if she didn’t,” he said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s ‘Claire Byrne Show’, he added: “What is the problem here with waiting six weeks to allow a tribunal do its work? If she’s given the opportunity to do that in a fair way she may well be vindicated.”
Noted
The new documents show that Ms Fitzgerald “noted” an email received in May 2015 – despite telling the Dáil last week that she couldn’t remember the correspondence.
It alerted her to a dispute between lawyers for Ms O’Sullivan and Sgt McCabe at the O’Higgins Commission.
A separate email thread now reveals that in July 2015 the department received queries from RTÉ about the “aggressive stance” adopted by the Garda’s legal team.
In response to the questions, a briefing note was prepared by the deputy secretary general at the department, Ken O’Leary.
He told Ms Fitzgerald: “I understand that some weeks ago Sgt McCabe indicated to his authorities in Mullingar that he no longer wanted to stay in his post in the Traffic Unit.
“Apparently he blamed the Commissioner for this though he said he could not be more specific as he was bound by confidentiality. This coincided with hearings at the O’Higgins Commission (these hearings are being held in private and there is a prohibition on disclosing evidence given at them).
“Sgt McCabe remains in his post at the traffic unit, though, in practice, his time recently has been taken up giving evidence to the Commission.”
He advises Ms Fitzgerald it is a matter of public record that at various times Sgt McCabe has raised “various concerns” regarding his position in the Force.
The email was discovered after Mr Varadkar ordered a trawl of the department to find anything that should have been provided to the Charleton Tribunal, which is investigating allegations of a Garda smear campaign against Sgt McCabe.