Day of drama and anger as Callely resigns

IVOR CALLELY resigned as a junior minister only minutes before an emergency Cabinet meeting was due to convene to sack him.

The dramatic sequence of events leading up to the embattled junior minister’s departure early yesterday was revealed for the first time last night after a tense and angry day in which the scheduled Budget debate in the Dáil was sidelined by prolonged scenes of uproar over Mr Callely’s resignation.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern decided on Wednesday that Mr Callely’s position was no longer tenable.

However, in two meetings with Mr Callely, the beleaguered junior minister insisted that he had done nothing wrong and insisted he would not resign.

The Taoiseach decided not to press ahead with the Cabinet meeting that would be required under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1980 on the grounds that it would deflect from the Budget announcement that afternoon. He held what was described as a further long conversation with Mr Callely that evening and reconvened the Cabinet meeting for yesterday.

The Government press secretary said two further phone conversations took place between Mr Ahern and Mr Callely yesterday morning. The first was at 7.30am at which Mr Callely maintained his position.

The second took place at 9am, shortly before the meeting was due to begin. A short time later Mr Callely sent a letter by fax stating that he was resigning.

It is believed he again stated that he was not guilty of any impropriety and said that he was only doing so because the continuing controversies had made his position untenable.

While the Cabinet meeting was still going on, Mr Callely gave a half-hour radio interview to Pat Kenny on RTÉ in which he stated he had not resigned. He also complained of a sinister and bizarre campaign being waged against him.

But shortly after emerging from the meeting, Mr Ahern told the Dáil he had already accepted Mr Callely’s resignation. The Dáil descended into almost two hours of chaos when the Government refused a debate on the resignation.

The Dublin North Central TD, said by colleagues to be very upset and angry, declined to make a personal statement to the Dáil.