Former Mayo Fianna Fáil TD, Ms Beverley Flynn, has no future in the party, the Minister for the Environment, Mr Roche, has told Mayo Fianna Fáil councillors. Liamy MacNally reports.
The Minister said the party in Mayo had to move on and select a candidate ahead of the next general election. "Beverley will not be a candidate for the party in the next general election or thereafter," he said.
The meeting, which was also attended by the general secretary of the party, Mr Seán Dorgan, followed unease among local councillors after headquarters issued a letter saying Ms Flynn should not be invited to party meetings.
Defending the presence in the party of Limerick's Michael Collins after he was convicted of having an off-shore bank account, Mr Roche said that "the significant difference was the adjudication (of Ms Flynn) in the highest court in the land.
"The adjudication in the case of Beverley was unprecedented. Her future is not in Fianna Fáil. I am not putting any equivocation or limitation on that."
He said the party had its own rules, and added he did not see Ms Flynn being re-admitted to the party in the future.
He rejected the notion of her as an "Independent Fianna Fáil" candidate, but said no one could be prevented from using such a title with the party name. "We do not have a copyright on it."
He also said Ms Flynn would not be invited to any party meetings in the county.
"Now that that clarity is there, I think the organisation in Mayo will be in a position to deal with that reality."
He rejected a claim made on local radio by Cllr Damian Ryan that both he and Cllr Jimmy Maloney walked out of the meeting in protest over the handling of the Flynn affair by party headquarters.
Mr Roche said both councillors had informed him before the meeting that they had to leave early.