The Social Democrats have accused Fine Gael of spoiling for an election rather than coming clean about the severe failings of the T\u00e1naiste in her handling the Maurice McCabe email affair.<\/p>\n
Party co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD said this morning:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was spelled out to Frances Fitzgerald in the email she received in May 2015 that the appalling campaign to blacken Maurice McCabe\u2019s name was continuing under a planned legal strategy directed by the then Garda Commissioner N\u00f3ir\u00edn O\u2019Sullivan. The fact that the email did not set off alarm bells with the Minister points to either incompetence on her part or something more sinister.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is incredulous to hear Minister Regina Doherty on the airwaves this morning describing this as a \u201ctrumped up issue\u201d. It is actually a fundamental issue and both the T\u00e1naiste and the current Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan have serious questions to answer. Frances Fitzgerald needs now to either come clean or resign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis entire incident is a critical test of the Taoiseach\u2019s leadership. If he can\u2019t deal decisively with his own ministers, then how can he deal competently with other issues? He seems to be careering headlong towards a general election when what\u2019s needed is for him to actually do his job as leader of government and clarify all issues surrounding this affair.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust and competence is a fundamental issue at the heart of this entire affair. In the last government, Fine Gael failed to protect whistleblowers and was not prepared to sort out the serious problems in the Garda\u00ed and the Department of Justice. We are now seeing this appalling trend being repeated by the current administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
24 November 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Social Democrats have accused Fine Gael of spoiling for an election rather than coming clean about the severe failings of the T\u00e1naiste in her handling the Maurice McCabe email affair. Party co-leader R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall TD said this morning: \u201cIt was spelled out to Frances Fitzgerald in the email she received in May 2015 that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[237,236,70],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","category-press-release","tag-frances-fitzgerald","tag-maurice-mccabe","tag-roisin-shortall-td"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n