THE GREEN Party needs to “move on” from the resignation of Deirdre de Búrca from the Oireachtas, even though it was “a very sad and unfortunate event”, her party colleague Senator Dan Boyle has said.
He said "every effort" had been made to secure a position for Ms de Búrca in the cabinetof Ireland's European commissioner, former justice minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.
When asked about Ms de Búrca's claim in The Irish Timeslast Saturday that party leader John Gormley told her she was "shafted" politically by Fianna Fáil, Mr Boyle told RTÉ Radio's This Week programme: "The decision was not a decision of the Irish Government, it was a decision of the incoming commissioner and, either by a combination of her own needs and commission rules, it doesn't seem to have been possible."
He continued: “I’ve no doubt that Deirdre has an understanding that she believes that she has been done wrong in that regard; I don’t share that and I believe every effort was made to try to secure Green influence on a position that wasn’t available to us.”
Asked if he was aware of an alleged threat by Ms de Búrca to damage the Green Party if she didn’t get the job, Mr Boyle said: “I think the situation is that Deirdre has found herself very hurt and disappointed, and she has reacted in a way where she wants that hurt and disappointment to be felt by others.
“I think it’s a very sad and unfortunate event and we need to move on from it.”
Had he talked to since she found out she wasn’t getting the job?
“Sadly, Deirdre decided to cut communications a number of weeks ago and that was part of the difficulty we were having in recent days, that there wasn’t proper communication occurring,” Mr Boyle said.
In a weekend letter issued to party members, party deputy leader Mary White TD said the former senator had levelled “scathing, unfair and totally groundless criticisms” against Mr Gormley.
“It is a simple fact that Deirdre’s behaviour was driven by her failure to secure a senior EU post in Brussels.
“It is less known that she threatened John Gormley and her party colleagues that she would set out to damage the party if she did not get that job.
“For the past two weeks, she has stayed away from parliamentary party meetings and communicated a number of threats and deadlines to her colleagues. It saddens me to say that I have found her behaviour to be deplorable.
“We have already explained publicly that we supported her candidature for a job in commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn’s advisory team in Brussels because she was well-qualified and suited for such a post.
“The Taoiseach was also favourable and representations were made. But commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn had other plans and she could not see a role for Deirdre de Búrca on her team.
“Everybody in Dublin had to accept that. A European commissioner is totally independent and legally obliged to shun any direction from the former home government.
“Critics of the Green Party have already feasted on Deirdre de Búrca’s other claims. We have publicly rebutted these claims and will continue to do so,” Ms White said.
Efforts to contact Ms de Búrca for comment yesterday on the issues arising from her resignation were unsuccessful.