Efforts to compel or request Mr Hugh O'Flaherty to give an explanation of his actions in the Sheedy affair before the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights were voted down by Fianna Fail last night.
The deputy leader of the Labour Party, Mr Brendan Howlin, told the committee of his "profound disappointment" that party politics had entered the issue, a development it had avoided during its investigations last year.
"I tabled this motion on the basis that tradition would be continued," he said, adding that after hearing the public utterances of some Fianna Fail deputies in recent days he had believed they would support the motion. It was a defining moment for parliament and for all those who spoke about committees being able to do the work that was now being "farmed out" to public inquiries.
The Fianna Fail amendment, which was passed by 10 votes to eight, simply noted the conclusions of the committee in its final report on the subject last year.
Then, the committee stated it was unable to inquire further into the circumstances surrounding the early release of Mr Sheedy for legal, constitutional and other reasons. It requested that the report be debated in both houses of the Oireachtas and sought views as to how the outstanding issues could be resolved.
Proposing the amendment, Senator Denis O'Donovan of Fianna Fail said it would "rubbish" the work of the committee and "take it a step back" to try and "redo what we have done". Mr Jim Higgins (FG) said Fianna Fail needed to comprehend that issues had moved on since last year.
"Mr O'Flaherty's so-called grounds for refusing to appear before this committee last year were well and truly demolished by his appearing on Today FM . . . It defies comprehension that this explanation of his conduct would be debarred or deferred while this appointment goes ahead."
Ms Marion McGennis TD (FF) said it would be wrong of the committee, in supporting the Labour motion, to raise the hopes of the family of Mrs Anne Ryan, the woman who died when Mr Sheedy's car crashed into the vehicle in which she was travelling, that they were "embarking on a process that will resolve the issue".
Mr Charles Flanagan TD (FG) described her remarks as "contemptible". He said the constitutional issue of not being allowed to question Mr O'Flaherty because he was exercising a judicial function was not an issue. "He was not executing a judicial function at the time. He was merely exercising his dog."
His party colleague, Ms Therese Ahearn, said no less sensitivity had been shown to the Ryan family by the promotion of a person who had played a key role in the release of Mr Sheedy. "If that is not insensitivity . . . that to me was the final insult for the Ryan family."