Quinn urged to clarify position on Reilly

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has refused to confirm or deny reports that he told a private meeting of the Labour Party that Health Minister James Reilly is not up to the job.

A spokesperson for Mr Quinn said he had expressed confidence in his colleague in the past week and there was no reason to believe his position had changed.

Responding to the reports, party leader Eamon Gilmore, speaking in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, said: “That’s not Ruairi Quinn’s view... The entire gover-nment is unified. James Reilly has a particularly difficult job to do.”