Gilmore vows to halt any political trickery

ANY hopes Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue had of remaining in office during a snap general election have been blown apart by Labour.

As the out-going Dáil Speaker was accused of delaying his resignation until next week in case the Greens’ special weekend convention decides to quit the coalition and trigger a national poll, Eamon Gilmore warned he would insist on a new Ceann Comhairle before any dissolution of the Oireachtas.

Tempers again flared in the Dáil as TDs clashed in the aftermath of the first removal of a Ceann Comhairle in the history of State.