'Empty apology' results in empty Opposition benches

It was an eerie sight. Yesterday afternoon, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, answered questions on his brief to empty Opposition benches.

He had to make do with the soft questioning of his party colleagues and a number of demands for a quorum from Fine Gael deputies who briefly visited the chamber only to disappear again. "How tedious," observed Mr David Andrews, as he was summoned from his office by the quorum bells.

Mr Cowen's one-time political mentor, Mr Albert Reynolds, a veteran of many a controversial day in the House, sat quietly reading and writing. Just after noon, Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party had withdrawn from the chamber when the Tβnaiste, Ms Harney, deputising for the Taoiseach, refused a request for a debate on Government time, to censure the Donegal South-West Independent TD, Mr Tom Gildea, following his claim that the Fine Gael TD, Mrs Nora Owen, had abused her powers when she was Minister for Justice. Rejecting the request, Ms Harney agreed the remarks should not have been made.

Within minutes, she said, the Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan, had spoken to Mr Gildea and they were withdrawn. "We would be dealing with a different situation if they were not." Mr Gildea followed up his withdrawal of the allegations with an apology to Ms Owen and her party.

But it did not placate the Opposition. As the row intensified, a visibly emotional Ms Owen declared: "I have been ruined, quite frankly, by the untrue, unfounded allegations made last night. My name has been associated with the word 'bribery' in today's newspaper headlines." Her sister, the Dublin MEP, Ms Mary Banotti, followed the proceedings from the VIP gallery. The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, was scathing. Noting the offending TD's presence, at the edge of the chamber, he snarled: "Come in here and be a man. Don't hang outside the railings." The Ceann Comhairle got tetchy, too, after calls to him about vindicating the rights of members of the House. "The Ceann Comhairle is not a judge and this is not a court of law," he said. Mr Gildea's apology was not fulsome, Mr Noonan asserted. Mr Noonan asked Ms Harney if she was aware that, since the summer recess, members of the Government, in particular Fianna Fβil, from the Cabinet down, were making "malicious, vicious, personalised attacks" on members of the Opposition.

"This happened in Mr Haughey's time. I suggest to the Tβnaiste that there is a dirty tricks department operating in Fianna Fβil". Ms Harney said: "We are all mature. There is robust debate from time to time." The robust debate ended with the Opposition walk-out.