The Taoiseach has moved with startling speed to expel Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn from both Fianna Fáil and its parliamentary party after she lost her appeal against the outcome of her failed libel action against RTÉ, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent.
Ms Cooper-Flynn now faces political and financial ruin after the Supreme Court yesterday unanimously rejected her appeal against the High Court finding in 2001 that she had encouraged and assisted people to evade tax when an employee of National Irish Bank.
The Mayo deputy now faces a legal bill of over €2 million, and must resign from Fianna Fáil and her parliamentary party within days to avoid being thrown out.
In a move designed to head off any accusations that the party tolerates tax evasion, the Taoiseach said last night that he himself will propose the motion to expel her from the parliamentary party at its meeting next Tuesday. A special Fianna Fáil ard comhairle meeting will be convened on Friday or Saturday of next week to vote on the rare proposal to expel a TD from the party altogether.
The announcement of the robust and rapid Fianna Fáil action came last night after a short meeting of party officers, attended by the Taoiseach, to consider what action to take.
The outcome appeared clear earlier, however, when Govern-ment and party spokeswomen indicated the Taoiseach's support for robust action against the Mayo deputy.
They said his view was set out last February when he said "tax evasion is wrong and encouraging anyone to engage in tax evasion is equally wrong". He said then that "Fianna Fáil will reach its conclusion" once the Supreme Court made its decision.
The unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court yesterday means that the High Court jury finding in 2001 that Ms Cooper-Flynn, while an employee of National Irish Bank, had encouraged and assisted people to evade tax, stands.
Yesterday's dramatic events mark the end of the Flynn political dynasty in Mayo. Ms Cooper-Flynn's father, the former minister and European commissioner, Mr Pádraig Flynn, is awaiting the Mahon tribunal's findings concerning his receipt of £50,000 from the developer Mr Tom Gilmartin.
The Supreme Court will today decide who should pay the costs for the Supreme Court appeal. However, the vast bulk of the €2 million costs arises from the 28 day 2001 hearing of her libel action against RTÉ reporter Charlie Bird and retired farmer Mr James Howard.
In that failed action the Mayo deputy had alleged she was libelled in six RTÉ news broadcasts in 1998 which reported that as an employee of National Irish Bank she had encouraged or assisted a number of persons in tax evasion.
The five Supreme Court judges took less than 10 minutes unanimously to reject each of the four grounds on which she had appealed the High Court verdict. In a damning reference, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane, quoted a British Law Lord who had said that defamation law "affords little or no protection to those who have, or deserve to have, no reputation deserving of legal protection. I am satisfied the same considerations apply in this case".
The Taoiseach's fast action yesterday pre-empted Opposition calls to discipline her. Earlier, Fine Gael's chief whip, Mr Bernard Durkan, had pointed out that in the Dáil on February 10th "the Taoiseach said that Deputy Cooper-Flynn was readmitted to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party on the basis that she had appealed to the Supreme Court". Her loss of that action meant the Taoiseach must "act swiftly".
Labour's deputy leader, Ms Liz McManus, said that for the same reason, "logic demands that - at the very least - she can now no longer remain a member of the Fianna Fáil party".
She also said there may be a case for the Standards in Public Office to consider her conduct since becoming a member of the Dáil.