Willie O’Dea: stands over ‘political football’ allegation.

CLAIMS by Minister of State for Justice Willie O’Dea that Irish Examiner columnist Fergus Finlay was using the disabled issue as a political football were described as “beneath contempt” yesterday.

Mr Finlay, chef de cabinet of the Labour Party and a long-standing proponent of improved rights for the disabled, rejected Mr O’Dea’s comments yesterday.

Responding to comments made by Mr O’Dea on RTÉ yesterday morning, Mr Finlay said he felt “the personal stuff was extremely unworthy and beneath contempt”.

“I don’t think it’s true to say as he alleged that I have no bona fides in this area and I would never make disability a political football.

“I just thought it was a series of cheap shots. On the one level they are unworthy of comment and at another level it is no way to run an argument. I made reasonably trenchant political points and he responded with personal abuse.” The comments were abusive to the point of being scandalous and a very poor substitute for argument, Mr Finlay said.

Mr O’Dea told the Irish Examiner yesterday that Mr Finlay had claimed in his column that he (the minister) regarded disabled people as stupid. Mr O’Dea said he had been working on the disability legislation for the past 15 months since he came into office and it was beneath contempt to suggest he believed disabled people were stupid.

He said he never regarded anybody as stupid but he would regard anybody, including a disabled person, as less than wise if they were to take seriously the mock indignation of someone who was in a position to help them while in Government for five years but did nothing.

Mr O’Dea stood over his allegation that Mr Finlay was trying to make the issue into a political football because of his close association with the Labour Party. Mr Finlay, he said, had been instrumental in a campaign which undermined the character of his predecessor Mary Wallace.

Mr O’Dea said he had to fight a ferocious battle to prevent the legislation being watered down at a time of scarce resources and had consulted at length with the disability groups.

“This is an effort to stir things up for political gain and it is going to do disabled people no favours,” he said.