Taoiseach rejects FF’s O’Brien photo jibes

Enda Kenny has dismissed as “desperate tactics” Fianna Fáil’s criticism of him for sharing a platform with businessman Denis O’Brien.

It came as the fallout from the Mahon Report continued, with Bertie Ahern announcing he would resign from Fianna Fáil rather than be expelled by the party this week.

While Fianna Fáil has moved quickly to take action against members the tribunal made findings against, it has questioned Fine Gael’s response to last year’s Moriarty Report.

Moriarty found former Fine Gael communications minister Michael Lowry had “secured the winning” of the State’s second mobile phone licence for Mr O’Brien, and that Mr O’Brien provided payments and benefits worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to Mr Lowry in return.

Last week Mr O’Brien was one of a group of people pictured with Mr Kenny on the balcony of the New York Stock Exchange as the Taoiseach rang the opening bell during an official visit.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin had questioned the appropriateness of this, given the Moriarty findings.

But speaking in China, where he is leading a trade mission, the Taoiseach dismissed Mr Martin’s comments. “I would say desperate tactics by a party that’s suffering a very serious body blow here,” Mr Kenny said.

“I attended as Taoiseach on the invitation of the chief executive of the NYSE to ring the bell to start the business on that day... I had no hand, act or part in any invitations extended.”

Former tánaiste Michael McDowell also criticised Mr Kenny over the photo-op, saying yesterday that if the Taoiseach had not already read the Moriarty Report, he should do so now — “slowly and carefully”.

But Mr O’Brien, who rejects the Moriarty findings, claimed Mr McDowell had a conflict of interest because he had been retained as an independent counsel to the tribunal in 2010.

The row over Moriarty came as Mr Ahern announced he would walk away from Fianna Fáil rather than be kicked out in the wake of last week’s Mahon Tribunal findings. Mahon found Mr Ahern had lied about the origins of over £215,000 which flowed into accounts connected with him in the 1990s.

A special meeting of Fianna Fáil’s national executive this Friday was due to hear expulsion motions against Mr Ahern and several other party members against whom the tribunal made damning findings.

Mr Ahern said he would resign instead, but stressed: “My resignation is not an admission of wrongdoing in regard to the report of the Mahon Tribunal, and nobody should try to interpret it in that way.”

Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics Labour TD Joe Costello said it was worth considering if pensions could be taken off those named in the Mahon Report as having done wrong. It would require a constitutional amendment, however, he said.

A Fianna Fáil spokesman said Friday’s meeting would go ahead to hear the other expulsion motions and related matters.