Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Brian Cowen is due to address the issue of his contact with Sean FitzPatrick on Wednesday. Peter Morrison/AP/Press Association Images
Anglo

Rumours of heave persist as Taoiseach prepares Dáil statement

Ahead of a Dáil statement on the nature of his contact with former Anglo chairman Sean FitzPatrick, confidence in Brian Cowen’s position seems to be fading.

TAOISEACH BRIAN COWEN is due to make a full statement to the Dáil tomorrow concerning his contact with former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean Fitzpatrick, following his insistence that there was no “hidden or secret agenda” to their discussions.

Rumours of a leadership heave have now resurfaced in the Fianna Fáil party, following Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin’s failure to express full confidence in Cowen last night when repeatedly asked to do so, the Irish Independent reports. Speaking at a convention in Killiney in Dublin, Hanafin said that the questions surrounding Cowen and FitzPatrick’s contact “adds to the instability of the party” at a time when it was facing a general election.

The Labour Party’s Joan Burton also accused Cowen of misleading the Dáil by failing to disclose that he had been contacted by FitzPatrick about the share ownership crisis in Anglo in March 2008.

In a strongly worded statement released last night, Cowen refuted “any suggestions of impropriety” on his part, saying that his opponents were jumping to “malicious and unfounded” conclusions about his contact with the former Anglo chairman:

There was nothing untoward, no hidden or secret agenda and no concessions, favours or interventions requested or granted. Certain people are drawing inferences for political and other motives, they are malicious, unfounded and have no basis in fact.

The Green Party is expected to give its response to Cowen’s statement this afternoon, following a meeting in Malahide this morning.