The following is the text of an interview given on RTE Radio 1 News at One by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, yesterday:
Sean O'Rourke:
Pressure continues to mount today on Ireland's EU Commissioner, Padraig Flynn, regarding his contacts with the property developer Tom Gilmartin, who says he gave Mr Flynn £50,000 for Fianna Fail 10 years ago. Mr Gilmartin also says Mr Flynn contacted him last September after Mr Gilmartin had told the Flood Tribunal about that donation.
Pressure is also mounting on the Taoiseach, because Mr Gilmartin says he met Bertie Ahern five times, though Mr Ahern says he can only recall one meeting and no phone calls. These events of a decade ago are of particular interest to Fianna Fail's partners in government, the Progressive Democrats. The party leader and Tanaiste, Mary Harney, spoke this morning to our Mid Western Correspondent, Cathy Halloran.
Tanaiste:
Well there is a very good relationship in the Government, it has been working well, we have had difficulties, but they have all been resolved privately and that's the way I think problems should be resolved in a coalition government. I think we need to move away from a situation where people talk to each other through the airwaves. But I am not happy with what I am hearing. Mr Flynn, the Commissioner, raised matters on the Late Late Show or dealt with them and since then Mr Gilmartin has made very serious allegations. We need to hear from the Commissioner. It's not good enough that he would remain silent, because the Commissioner was nominated by Ireland. Whilst he doesn't represent Ireland as a member of the Commission - he is not entitled to do that and I don't believe the Government are entitled to remove a Commissioner - and nonetheless I think serious question marks now arise for the Commissioner and I hope he deals with them. We cannot just wait for the tribunal to deal with these issues. That could be quite some time away.
It's a pity all of these matters weren't dealt with at the tribunal in the first instance, because that is the fair and appropriate way, the most appropriate way in my view to deal with allegations of this kind, because they are very serious allegations and obviously there is conflict of evidence and it's a matter for the tribunal to resolve those conflicts and establish the truth. But now that they have arisen in the public domain I think it's not good enough that questions would hang over certain people and certain matters for a considerable length of time, and we need more clarity.
Reporter:
Do you think questions hang over the Taoiseach as well as Mr Flynn?
Tanaiste:
Well, I am not going to talk to the Taoiseach through the airwaves. I meet him this afternoon. I spoke to him on the telephone yesterday. Since then he has issued a statement and there is obviously conflicts between what he believes to be the truth and what Mr Gilmartin says. Now we can all suffer from memory loss. I accept that. People can genuinely forget things. But I would like to talk to the Taoiseach this afternoon about these matters, because it's very important that we deal with them. And it appears that other Ministers may have been involved in meetings and I think we need to hear about that as well.
Reporter:
Do you think it was proper, Tanaiste, that Mr Flynn contacted Mr Gilmartin as he did when the tribunal was up?
Tanaiste:
Oh, of course it wasn't. In my opinion it wasn't. If that happened - and Mr Gilmartin said it did and I have no reason not to believe him from what he said yesterday - that was highly improper in my view.
We cannot interfere with witnesses that would go before a tribunal of inquiry or seek to do that, so we need to hear from Mr Flynn because these are very, very serious allegations, in particular what has arisen since the evidence went to the tribunal and indeed since last Saturday week's Late Late Show. Mr Flynn sought to deal with these issues on the Late Late Show, but there are now more questions that need to be answered and they should be answered very quickly.
It's not good for the country. It's not good for Mr Flynn. It's not good for politics for him to remain silent.
Reporter:
What is your view of Commissioner Flynn's position at the moment, given what has come out?
Tanaiste:
Oh, I think his position is impossible, quite honestly. What Mr Gilmartin had to say yesterday is very devastating as far as the Commissioner is concerned and that's why I think we need to hear from him.
Reporter:
Do you think the question of resignation arises for him?
Tanaiste:
I don't know what the procedures are, quite honestly, in relation to that matter. But everybody has to make up their own mind about these things. I don't know what the Government's power is in relation to this issue and I am not so certain it would be desirable for the Government to get involved. He is a Commissioner that was nominated by Ireland, but it's now a matter for him and clearly it would have been better if all of these things had been dealt with by the tribunal and the tribunal could have established the facts and made a report. But obviously the matter has moved on and Mr Flynn needs to talk very quickly about the allegations that Mr Gilmartin made yesterday.
Reporter:
Finally, Tanaiste, do you think all of these matters have the potential to split the Government?
Tanaiste:
I just don't know what's going to happen. Clearly what has now arisen is not good for politics, it's not good for those that serve in politics either now or in the past, and I think it's very disillusioning for members of the public.
And the tragedy is that the tribunals have taken so long to get to this point and that's because of so much legal action on the part of some individuals. Some people, it seems, go to extraordinary lengths to try and stop the truth coming out.
What's wonderful, I think, about these tribunals is that the truth will be established - and the quicker the better.