THE Tanaiste, Mr Spring, has remained in contact with the Iranian authorities and has raised the question of lifting the fatwa against the writer, Salman Rushdie, a number of times, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Yesterday Mr Spring was criticised by the Dublin MEP, Mr Niall Andrews, who accused the, Minister of "cold indifference towards Mr Rushdie, who has had to live in hiding since the fatwa or religious edict, was issued against him by Ayatollah Khomeini in February 1989. Mr Rushdie was accused of insulting Islam in his novel, Satanic Verses.
Hopes were high at the start of the Irish Presidency of the EU as contact had already been made by the Rushdie Defence Committee in London and Mr Rushdie himself with a number of leading Irish politicians, including Mr Spring and the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton.
However, it now appears that the hopes of real moves towards a positive outcome were dashed because of leaks in the British press.
The Rushdie case was not raised in September when Mr Spring met his Iranian counterpart on the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, apparently because diplomats were still optimistic the issue could be resolved at the level of officials and there was no need for political involvement.
Since then the position has grown increasingly bleak for Mr Rushdie. The issue will be raised during a last meeting of the "critical dialogue" of the Irish presidency. This is a forum for links between the Iranian government and the EU presidency, which allows talks to take place and political problems to be raised without giving full recognition. However, there is little doubt that any contacts at this stage are extremely sensitive.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has denied the claim made by Mr Andrews that the initial optimism was misplaced.
Mr Andrews said in a statement yesterday that there had been hope that Ireland, due to its good relationship with Iran and "lack of colonial baggage", could have acted as an honest broker.
Last night the Salman Rushdie Defence Committee in London declined to comment on Andrews's statement.