FF suspends silent Callely in claims row

THE TAOISEACH has suspended Ivor Callely from Fianna Fáil after the embattled senator failed to answer phone calls from a senior party figure looking for an explanation into allegations he forged expense claims.

Mr Callely will be called before a five-person committee of the Fianna Fáil National Executive, which will investigate allegations that he forged invoices to claim almost €3,000 for phone kits when he was junior minister in 2007.

After the allegations were made in a Sunday newspaper, Brian Cowen asked the general secretary of the party, Sean Dorgan, to contact Mr Callely on Monday to explain his side of the story.

But Mr Callely, who is believed to be staying at his holiday home in West Cork, failed to respond.

A statement issued last night said Fianna Fáil had “agreed that this information establishes a possible prima facie case of conduct unbecoming a member of the Fianna Fáil organisation”.

It said he was suspended from the organisation “without prejudice, and pending the completion of an internal investigation”.

The findings will be revealed at the next meeting of the Fianna Fáil Ard Chomhairle, scheduled for September, and Mr Callely will either be allowed back into the party, suspended or expelled.

The Dublin senator had already lost the Fianna Fáil party whip but remained a member of the party following an Oireachtas investigation last month into his use of a holiday home in West Cork to claim mileage to the Seanad, rather than his Dublin address.

Last night’s statement followed a day of growing pressure on Mr Callely to resign, during which Green Party TD Paul Gogarty criticised the Taoiseach’s silence on the matter.

Mr Gogarty also threatened to spark a fresh Oireachtas probe into Mr Callely’s expenses by making an official complaint to the clerk of the Seanad and the Oireachtas Committee on Members’ Interests.

Green Party chairman Senator Dan Boyle said: “The fact that information like this is being revealed on a regular basis means he needs to be considering his position.”

The junior coalition partners said they had no discussions with the Taoiseach on the matter. But speaking on RTÉ radio earlier yesterday, Mr Gogarty referred to his party’s intervention in the resignation of Willie O’Dea as defence minister earlier this year and said “a similar situation may arise” in relation to Mr Callely.

A Garda investigation has also been urged by the Independent senator, David Norris, who said if the latest allegations are true “it is impossible to see how Senator Callely could continue” as a Seanad member.