Ulster peer calls for Taoiseach to resign

An Ulster Unionist peer has called for the Taoiseach to resign over his relationship with financier and trade unionist Phil Flynn.

Mr Flynn, a former vice-president of Sinn Féin, recently resigned his state positions while police investigate alleged-money laundering claims with a business associate.

Speaking in the House of Lords under cover of parliamentary privilege, Lord Laird accused the Taoiseach of allowing Mr Flynn to assume a highly influential position in the affairs of state.

He said that the Taoiseach had, in the eyes of all Unionists, “totally forfeited any claim to consider himself as an honest broker”.

“Any other prime minister who had knowingly allowed a senior member of a revolutionary movement known to be associated with terrorists into position of massive influence would by now have resigned,” Lord Laird said.