Justice Minister brings hypocrisy to new level

EVEN the most hardened of cynics would find it difficult not to be amazed by the contents of yesterday’s long awaited statement by the Tánaiste, Michael McDowell, in support of the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

His most eye-catching pronouncement was on the issue of the leak from the Mahon Tribunal, where he condemned “the unlawful, very carefully timed, ill-motivated betrayal of confidence by someone with access to the papers of the tribunal”.

This, he said, led to “an unfounded series of private allegations of corruption” being levelled against the Taoiseach.

Mr McDowell went on to say that the tribunal “risks becoming discredited and ineffective if by its processes it cannot prevent such abuses”.

The Justice Minister’s crocodile tears about the integrity of the justice system being undermined by leaks bring Progressive Democrat hypocrisy to a new and dizzying height.

Was it not Mr McDowell himself who deliberately leaked Garda intelligence on Frank Connolly to the minister’s long-time friend, national newspaper journalist Sam Smyth? The leaked document concerned a forged passport application.

This, in turn, led to a series of unproven allegations against Mr Connolly, which would have grave consequences for his own professional reputation.

Does Mr McDowell think leaks from his own Government department any less grave than leaks from a tribunal of inquiry? Is Mr Connolly somehow less entitled to his good reputation than Bertie Ahern is?

Mr McDowell also explained the uncharacteristic silence of his party on this issue for most of the past week, which he said was “to afford the Taoiseach an opportunity to assemble the relevant information, ascertain his legal obligations and to account publicly for the facts”.

One wonders why Brian Lenihan and Charles Haughey were not afforded a similar courtesy by the Progressive Democrats in the early 1990s.

On those occasions, Mr McDowell and others in his party had demanded heads on silver platters almost as soon as the allegations against Lenihan and Haughey had hit the news stands.

Unfortunately, it seems we are a long way from those heady days, and it is many years since the air on the moral high ground got too thin for the Progressive Democrats.

By once again defending the indefensible in a desperate attempt to cling to power, Mr McDowell has ensured he and Bertie Ahern will still be arm-in-arm when the barrel finally goes over the waterfall next May.

Barry Walsh

Brookfield Hall

Castletroy

Limerick