Taoiseach, Tanaiste slammed over response to Molloy

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the Tanaiste, Mary Harney, are under fire today for saying that Junior Minister Bobby Molloy’s approach to a judge in a rape case was not a resigning matter.

Mr Molloy resigned over the matter this morning, just hours after receiving the support of Mr Ahern and Ms Harney.

Both Fine Gael and the Labour Party have attacked the judgement of the two party leaders and said it was obvious that Mr Molloy’s actions were serious enough to warrant a resignation.

Fine Gael’s Alan Shatter said: "We believe that the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the Tanaiste, Mary Harney, now have serious questions to answer. Particularly, they need to explain their conduct of yesterday, in which they appeared to believe it was possible for Minister Molloy to continue in office."

Brendan Howlin of the Labour Party echoed these comments and said this morning’s resignation raises questions about the public standards of the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste.

"In all these matters," he said, "whether it’s Ray Burke or Liam Lawlor, the Taoiseach never faces up to his responsibilities immediately, so I don’t expect much in terms of the processing of high standards from the Taoiseach.

"But the Tanaiste has made a career of it and she has demanded the highest of standards, so it is surprising that it took Bobby Molloy himself to make the decision that clearly the Tanaiste was unwilling to make last night."