Lisbon committee kicks off with a row

THE Oireachtas committee set up to defuse the political mud-slinging over the Lisbon treaty kicked off with a row yesterday.

Fine Gael chairman Senator Paschal Donohoe angrily accused Sinn Féin senator Pearse Doherty of branding him “dishonest” during its first meeting.

Mr Doherty denied the charge, saying he had been referring to the Government’s terms of reference for the committee as dishonest, not Mr Donohoe.