Brian Lenihan’s brother takes FG senator to task over illness remarks
In a letter to this newspaper last week, Fine Gael senator and GP Liam Twomey wrote of Mr Lenihan: “As a medical doctor, I am not sure that it is appropriate for him to continue working like he is.”
But Junior Minister Conor Lenihan said Mr Twomey had “no knowledge” of the Finance Minister’s condition.
“Twomey’s... comments about the minister’s health are so undignified they hardly merit comment, other than to state that he has no knowledge of the minister’s condition yet he chooses to use his status as a medical doctor to pronounce on the matter,” Mr Lenihan said.
The junior minister also criticised Mr Twomey for suggesting Brian Lenihan was an inappropriate choice of speaker for the annual Michael Collins commemoration in Béal na mBláth next Sunday.
In his letter, Mr Twomey said it was wrong for a Fianna Fáil minister to address what is traditionally regarded as a Fine Gael event.
Mr Twomey referred to the fact that members of the anti-treaty camp had killed Collins during the civil war. “I do not see why a Fianna Fáil minister like Brian Lenihan, whose predecessors murdered Michael Collins, should be making the oration at the Michael Collins commemoration.”
Despite this, he went on to say his opposition to Mr Lenihan’s appearance was not about civil war politics, but what Fianna Fáil represented.
“The Fianna Fáil leadership (or lack thereof) does not deserve the respect of the Irish people. The Michael Collins commemoration will give them an aura of acceptability that they will only abuse,” he said.
But Conor Lenihan said Mr Twomey had demonstrated a weak grasp of history, pointing out that his and Brian’s grandfather had been a member of the Free State army during the civil war.
“Senator Twomey says his objection has nothing to do with ‘civil war politics’ but quickly points out that Mr Lenihan’s ‘predecessors murdered Michael Collins’.
“For the record, neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael were in existence when Collins was assassinated. For what it is worth, a great many Fianna Fáil people had family who fought with and supported Collins.”
Mr Lenihan made his comments in the Evening Herald newspaper.
