He is no longer a member of the party, and has effectively been deselected as a party candidate for the next general election. However, Mr Liam Lawlor is still loosely associated with Fianna Fail and is in some ways treated by the party as a Government supporter.
As of last night, Mr Dermot Ahern, the Minister for Social, Family and Community Affairs, was the only party member of authority to condemn Mr Lawlor's attitude to the Flood tribunal. A number of possible sanctions against him that would signify disapproval have not been taken. The Opposition claims this amounts to a deliberate holding back from clearly denouncing the deputy whose attitude to the Flood tribunal. Opposition figures are quick to point to two possible reasons for this. Firstly, they say, the Government is in a tight Dail voting position and therefore does not want to alienate a supporter. Secondly, they suggest, Mr Lawlor has hinted several times that other politicians have skeletons in their cupboards and the party may not want to encourage him to be any more explicit. A Government spokesman last night rejected these Opposition claims.
Mr Lawlor resigned not only from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party last June but also from the party itself. There is therefore no question of expelling him. There are, however, other sanctions the party could impose on him.
His office remains among the Fianna Fail party offices, and he receives the weekly voting instructions from the Government Chief Whip given to all Fianna Fail backbenchers and the Independents who support the Government. He remains on two Dail committees, having been put there as a Fianna Fail member.
In defence against Opposition claims of a softly-softly approach, Government and party sources yesterday pointed to indications of disapproval of Mr Lawlor. The Taoiseach has twice said all Oireachtas members have a legal, moral and democratic duty to co-operate with the tribunals. Mr Noel Dempsey has called the decision to jail Mr Lawlor "a vindication of the Flood tribunal". However last night, Mr Dermot Ahern was the first clearly to criticise Mr Lawlor. "I accept what the judge said. It is a scandal . . . Fianna Fail fully accepts that". The robustness of the party's internal inquiry last spring into payments to politicians ultimately drove Mr Lawlor from the party.
The party has selected two others to contest his Dail seat at the next election, effectively deselecting him. The Government also encouraged him to resign last week as vice-chairman of one of the two Dail committees, and is likely to encourage him to resign his positions on the committees altogether. However, this does not amount to a simple condemnation.
Mr Lawlor's support in the Dail is important to the Government. Were he and the other Independent former Fianna Fail deputy Mr Denis Foley to vote against the Coalition, a Dail vote would be tied at 8282. The Government would then be reliant on the casting vote of the Ceann Comhairle.
The Labour Party yesterday produced figures showing that from June 7th, the day Mr Lawlor resigned from Fianna Fail, he failed to support the Government in every one of 21 Dail votes in the subsequent fortnight. Yet from June 21st onwards he was present to support the Government in 31 of the 42 votes held since.
This, the party's environment spokesman, Mr Eamon Gilmore, charged yesterday, was evidence of "a secret deal" with the Government. However, it is also possible that Mr Lawlor was simply out of the country at the time.
Mr Lawlor could not be contacted for comment yesterday. A Government spokesman said claims of a "pact" were nonsense. "He's an Independent deputy and the Government has no control over him." However, it is clear that Mr Lawlor has been a consistent supporter of the Government and that this support is important. For parliamentary purposes, he is treated in several important ways as a Fianna Fail deputy.
His Dail office was on the Fianna Fail floor in the old building before his resignation in June. Party deputies have since moved to the new Leinster House building, which would have made it easy to relocate him. However, he was allocated an office again on a Fianna Fail floor. This confers no concrete privilege on him - were he not in his present office he would be supplied with one of equal standard elsewhere, and would also be entitled to a Dail secretary whether a party member or an Independent. The situation, however, does suggest that he is not seen as fully outside the party.
He was put on the Dail Committee on Finance and the Public Service and the Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport as a Fianna Fail member shortly after the 1997 general election by the Dail's all-party Committee of Selection, which assigned deputies to committees following each general election by agreement between the political parties.
Under Standing Order 108, he could be removed from those committees by a simple Dail vote. The Government has only said that this course of action will have to be "looked at" in the light of the jailing of Mr Lawlor. It has not responded to a Fine Gael call on the Taoiseach to ensure his party puts down and supports a motion to do this. Party sources say they will privately encourage him to resign these positions rather than engineer a confrontational Dail vote.