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.