Ahern ‘should quit if he doesn’t give answers’

THE Taoiseach should resign if he fails to answer critical questions over why he appointed Ray Burke to Cabinet, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said yesterday.

After a stormy Dáil session dominated by calls for a full debate on the Flood Tribunal, Mr Kenny said it was time for Bertie Ahern to offer a detailed explanation of Mr Burke’s appointment in 1997.

“I believe that for him the ebb-tide has begun to flow. It is my opinion that if he fails to answer all the critical questions, fully and completely, that he should consider his position and step down as Taoiseach,” Mr Kenny said.

Labour’s Brendan Howlin continued the attack and said no political leader had fallen from grace as quickly or as completely as Mr Ahern had done in recent weeks.

“The people of Ireland expected great things from this Taoiseach. The professional ordinary man, the professional man of the people. They gave him their trust.

“That trust was broken in the aftermath of the general election, it was shattered beyond repair by the findings of Mr Justice Flood in his second interim report.”

The Opposition parties also claimed there was overwhelming evidence on all sides which indicated that Mr Burke was an unsuitable person to appoint to Cabinet.

Mr Howlin said there were innumerable warnings which were all significant, but which together were damning.

“At the absolute minimum, they warranted serious investigation. But the Taoiseach couldn’t even bring himself to ask Mr Burke a direct question,” Mr Howlin said.

Mr Kenny attacked the also attacked the investigation and the decision to proceed with Mr Burke’s appointment. “Mr Ahern ignored all the advice and doggedly pursued the public elevation of a man known to be on the take.

An intriguing unpolitical decision for one so cute,” he said.

Earlier in the day, during a debate for a debate over the Flood Report, the Green’s John Gormley attacked Mr Ahern for trying to obstruct their attempts to get answers.

“This is Dáil Éireann in 2002, it’s not the Reichstag in 1933. We want democracy, we want accountability.

Just what are Fianna Fáil and the PDs trying to hide?”