When Mary Harney sat down to read the Sunday papers at the weekend, the last thing she expected was a front page attack by her Minister of State, Liz O'Donnell, on the Government's asylum-seekers policy. Harney had no forewarning of O'Donnell's solo run and her first thoughts on reading the interview which rebuked the Government for its "doom-laden ad-hoc policy" of dealing with asylum-seekers was how it would go down with her senior Coalition partners.
O'Donnell's tough words came after scenes of chaos, which led to the temporary closure of the Refugee Application Centre in Mount Street because of overcrowding and long queues. And O'Donnell was also still cross over a story earlier in the week which said she differed with the Tanaiste on asylum policy. Not true, she claimed.
The Progressive Democrats agreed earlier this month to draft a policy document on asylum-seekers. As Minister of State with responsibility for human rights and overseas development, O'Donnell was to have a major input into drafting the policy. She saw the interview as a perfect vehicle for flagging the party's intentions.
While tensions between the Government parties over O'Donnell's interview were predictable, everybody was watching what was going to happen within the PDs. How was Harney going to react to her junior minister's antics, coming so soon after O'Donnell angered Fianna Fail by calling on John Ellis to consider his position as chairman of the Agriculture Committee?
But anyone looking for a public spat was to be sorely disappointed. In an interview on RTE, Harney defended her Minister and said the Progressive Democrats were a liberal party with their own distinct views and policies. O'Donnell was very much in the limelight but apparently out of trouble with the party leadership.
While there was speculation that the O'Donnell move was part of a new, co-ordinated PD strategy, such was not the case. The stand on asylum-seekers, and indeed the John Ellis issue, were not part of a plan to mark themselves out as independent from Fianna Fail. But the party was determined to turn the controversy to its advantage.
O'Donnell's audacious comments went down a treat with the grassroots. Sources in the party from outside Dublin said she has deepened the niche that the PDs so badly need to carve out if they are to survive the next election as a political force.
Liz O'Donnell came from obscurity to be elected to the Dail for the Progressive Democrats in 1992. Shrewd and intelligent, she has been deeply politicised by her experience in the North. Unlike the party's other three TDs, O'Donnell has had no past connection with Fianna Fail. In fact, she gets on very well with the Taoiseach personally , and does not mind being criticised about issues she genuinely believes in.
But her good relations with Mr Ahern, and her lack of a history with Fianna Fail, did not prevent serious strains developing between the Government parties over her outspoken asylum policy attack. Ministers were outraged at her public ticking off, especially the Minister responsible for the policy on asylum-seekers, John O'Donoghue.
One of his senior civil servants told The Irish Times this week: "Liz O'Donnell, or indeed no PD, has ever visited the one-stopshop in Mount Street. If she is that concerned, or if the party is that concerned, you would think they would have called or made inquiries to find out for themselves what the position is on the ground."
John O'Donoghue did himself no favours on Sunday when, in announcing an amendment to immigrant trafficking legislation, he spoke of the State being "swamped" by asylum-seekers.
On Questions and Answers on Monday night, Charlie McCreevy criticised the PD position and said everything had been going OK until the Government's decision in July to give work permits to some asylum-seekers had attracted more into the State. This was a public hit at Mary Harney and O'Donnell, who had pushed this policy.
Ironically, the work permit rule will not benefit any of the new asylum-seekers who have come here since July. The rule applies only to those asylum-seekers in the State before July 26th who have been waiting to have their case for refugee status determined.
Another Minister was so angry at O'Donnell's outburst that he could hardly bring himself to mention her name. In conversation this week he referred to her as "the Minister of State" or "the PD deputy".
Yet another Minister suggested privately that if 1,000 asylum-seekers were sent to Liz O'Donnell's constituency, she would maybe feel differently about the issue.
The Fianna Fail press office got involved in the fray as well. It circulated a two-page memo to all Parliamentary Party members outlining all that the party and Mr O'Donoghue have done to tackle the problem. The press office insisted that memos on various issues are circulated to TDs and senators all the time, and trenchantly denied that the asylum memo was in direct response to Liz O'Donnell's comments.
There are differences of opinion on the issue now emerging within Fianna Fail itself. There was annoyance at an attempt by Dublin North West TD Ivor Callely to raise the issue at the weekly Parliamentary Party meeting. Callely got to speak for five minutes but only when the floor made it clear to the chairman, Rory O'Hanlon, that they wanted to hear what Callely had to say.
Callely's message was clear and simple. While we should honour our commitments to genuine refugees under the 1951 Geneva Convention, the rest should not be tolerated. The Taoiseach's brother, Noel Ahern, also spoke along the same lines at the meeting. He told The Irish Times later that people in his constituency felt threatened that they were in competition with asylum-seekers for houses and jobs.
Many Fianna Fail TDs were appalled at Callely's call yesterday for the Government to "throw out" bogus asylum-seekers. As chairman of the Eastern Health Board, one TD said, he should have a more compassionate approach. It appears the issue will not be discussed by the Parliamentary Party for a few weeks as the agenda is full of pre-Budget matters.
John O'Donoghue spoke in the Dail in October 1995 on refugees. He said: "The status of refugees is an issue which should strike a chord with every man, woman and child here who has any grasp of Irish history, our history books being littered with the names and deeds of those driven from our country out of fear of persecution."
Very few would disagree with those sentiments. While the issue has become the centre of a public political brawl this week, the problem still persists, even though the Minister has ploughed huge resources into the problem, including setting up the "one-stop-shop" in Mount Street since coming into office.
Liz O'Donnell has won many admirers this week for her forthrightness. But she has also made many enemies in Fianna Fail.
But, if nothing else, her interview has concentrated the politicians' minds on the issue, starting with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, calling a special meeting of Ministers to discuss asylum-seekers for Monday week.
