Willie O'Dea battling the biggest crisis of his 28-year Dail career
MINISTER for Defence Willie O'Dea is facing what could prove to be the biggest crisis in his 28-year political career, as a vote of confidence - to counteract next week's motion of no confidence - has now been tabled for debate in the Dail this Wednesday.
Sinn Fein Cllr Maurice Quinlivan, who took the case against the Limerick minister, believes Minister O'Dea should resign.
Speaking on Newstalk, he said the "Green Party should prevent the motion of no confidence going forward and should ask Willie to resign. Simple as that."
While the Fine Gael motion of no confidence is expected to be defeated, it has yet to be determined what impact the controversy will have in the minds of his electorate in Limerick, who have supported him in huge numbers in the past.
Labour deputy Jan O'Sullivan, who was anxious to hear Minister O'Dea explain the circumstances behind giving a false statement in a sworn affidavit to the High Court last year, does not believe he should resign.
Fellow Cabinet ministers have also rallied around Minister O'Dea, who believes the Opposition have been stoking the fires of a matter which has been legally resolved two months ago, for "political advantage."
Fianna Fail deputy Niall Collins said it represents a "non issue" for him and he has "absolutely no doubt" that the motion of no confidence will be defeated.
He said the motion is a case of "playing politics" and queried whether any elected politician who has a legal dispute resolved, "should be tried a second time by Dail Eireann?" In terms of the local electorate, he said "no negative reaction" has been brought to his attention.
Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe agreed that the controversy is being used as a "distraction tactic" by Fine Gael specifically, who are targeting O'Dea and "making a big issue out of this because of dissatisfaction within the party."
But Fine Gael deputy Kieran O'Donnell disagreed with such allegations, and said he found it "disappointing" that Minister O'Dea did not answer questions in the Dail, after making his statement.
"It is difficult to understand why he didn't listen back to the tape before he made the affidavit. That has left him open to question. He has questions to answer. I very much await the outcome of the debate," said Deputy O'Donnell.
Mr O'Donnell would not personally comment on whether he has confidence in Minister O'Dea's abilities, but said "Limerick has become the forgotten region" under the current Government and there is "collective Cabinet responsibility."
"The Government have not delivered and Minister O'Dea is part of that Government," he said.
Labour deputy Pat Rabbitte described O'Dea's statement in the Dail on Tuesday as "pathetically self-exculpatory" and said he hopes Green Party leader John Gormley would "revert to his high moral standards" when the motion of no confidence came before the Dil.
Local Green Party member, Trish Forde Brennan, said she could not comment on the motion of no confidence as she is not an elected member of the Dail.
However, Ms Forde Brennan said she personally believes "it's time to move on", and return political attentions to the economy and job creation.
She said Opposition parties are "entitled to have concerns", but found it curious that it's being raised now.
In response to Mr Rabbitte's moral attack on the Greens, she said the party "will deal with the issue in consultation with Government parties and we will dictate how our own party does business."
She said it's time for parties to "look at the bigger picture rather than taking short political hits."
See our County and City editions for an exclusive, in-depth report by Mike Dwane, whose interview with Willie O'Dea triggered the controversy. He will reveal the full background to the taped interview which led to Minister O'Dea's affidavit.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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