If you don't want me, I'll go

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night indicated he would resign if Fianna Fáil backbenchers felt he was to blame for the party's worst ever election.

Recalling it was almost 27 years to the day since he was first elected a TD, Mr Ahern said if people thought he was a liability to the party he would go. His message was simple: I won't hang around if people don't want me.

At a three-and-a-half hour Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting, Mr Ahern said he was ready to lead the fight as he urged his TDs and senators to hold their nerve, as the Progressive Democrats intensified the divisions between the Government parties.