This article is from page 8 of the 2012-03-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
CLARE will have a huge say on whether disgraced Fianna Fáil politicians will remain within the party following the findings of the Mahon tribunal, as three of the members of the party’s Special Ard Chomhairle hail from the Banner county.
Party Vice-President Timmy Dooley TD and Gareth Greene, one of the Committee of Twenty, said they would have voted to expel former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and former minister Padraig Flynn had they not resigned, and will be supporting the motions to throw the other disgraced members out.
The third Clare man on the party’s national executive secretary of Clare’s Fianna Fáil Comhairle Dáil Cheantair Gerry Reidy said he would be follow- ing the direction of the leadership and the committee on the motions.
Of Mr Ahern, Mr Reidy said, “What he has done (in resigning) is a very honourable thing as it allows the party to move on without any divisions. He was very well received in Clare and did a lot for the county while he was Taoiseach.”
Mr Greene said that he feels his association with the party has tainted him after the findings of Mahon.
“It is that that informed our determination to put a clear distance between those people and ourselves,” he said, referring to those to come before the Ard Comhairle for expulsion. “There isn’t a doubt in the world that the reputation of the Fianna Fáil party has been prejudiced by a small number of people. There is a sense of hurt and pain to thousands of good and decent members who are struggling to man- age household budgets.”
Deputy Dooley described the findings of Mahon as a “bitter pill to swallow”. He said, “While all the evidence was coming out, you always had a view there was something else there to mitigate against them.
“I am disappointed with the facts throughout all of this. I had assumed there would be an explanation but obviously the judge who heard all the evidence found Bertie Ahern untruthful.”
The Clare TD said there was no doubt that the former Taoiseach had to be expelled from the party.
He maintains, however, that while Fianna Fáil has been damaged by the revelations of the Mahon Report, history will provide a kinder report. He said he believes history will point to a lot of good the party has done, while mentioning the corruption.