Green reaction: Green Party leader Trevor Sargent described the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as a political "dead man walking" and claimed no party would be willing to serve in a coalition government led by him because of the questions about his personal finances.
He said he could not "see any party to be honest accepting the moral authority which is expected of a taoiseach with Bertie Ahern in that office".
"I feel that Bertie Ahern as a result of the Tánaiste essentially calling him a liar is politically now a dead man walking. When people vote for Fianna Fáil the question will be on their minds as to who they are voting for as leader because it's very likely it won't be Bertie Ahern."
He added: "The questions of his own personal finances and his relations with individuals which he didn't want to make public but has been made public, does, I believe, call for a new start in Irish politics where standards are set at the very highest level which take out any confusion about vested interests and who controls decision making in Government."
However he also accused Progressive Democrats leader Michael McDowell of political desperation in relation to the unfolding of events over the weekend.
"I think the Tánaiste has now been found really to have very little principles other than survival and even that is a very tenuous option for him," Mr Sargent told The Irish Times.
"I think the PDs really have turned their backs on why they were founded in the first place. When you think about Des O'Malley's crusade about standards in politics, I would expect PD supporters would look to the Green Party, which has turned its back on corporate donations and sought to separate the control of big business from the way politics should operate."
However Mr Sargent said his position on resigning as leader of the Greens if the party was to enter coalition with Fianna Fáil would not change even if Mr Ahern stood down after the election.
"It was on the basis of needing to change government that I resolved that I would not have done the job if Fianna Fáil was to regain power after the next election, and I think it would reflect the views of many people that Fianna Fáil needs to spend time now in opposition to reflect on its own reason for being in politics and how it has become too closely linked to the vested interests which have bankrolled it for years."