McDaid threatens budget majority

THE looming battle to get the budget through the Dáil became even more daunting for Brian Cowen last night as his knife-edge majority was shaken further.

Backbench rebel Jim McDaid, who lost the party whip last year for opposing the withdrawal of a cancer vaccine, announced he now feels free to vote against the Government after a bitter internal party row in his Donegal North East constituency.

Simmering tensions between McDaid’s camp and that of fellow FF TD Niall Blaney erupted at an inaugural meeting of the newly formed Letterkenny-Milford cumann after two Blaney supporters were appointed to officer roles.