TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has announced that a general election will be held on March 11th. He was forced to bring forward the date when Green Party Ministers threatened to leave Government.
There was serious disagreement last night between Mr Cowen and Green Party leader John Gormley about the circumstances in which the Greens vetoed plans for the appointment of six new ministers and precipitated the calling of the election.
Instead of appointing new ministers the Taoiseach was forced to reassign the vacant ministerial posts to serving members of the Cabinet.
There are now just nine members of the Cabinet, instead of the usual 15. Under the Constitution the Cabinet has to be composed of at least seven Ministers.
Mr Cowen last night said that while he had been aware the Greens were “having concerns about perception” over his plan to appoint new Fianna Fáil ministers, he took the view that decisions could not be made based on perception.
“What has happened is they have decided to veto the appointment of new Fianna Fáil ministers for those who are not going to stand in the next election. I believe it is cynical to leave such ministers in office.”
Mr Gormley said that he and his fellow Green Minister Eamon Ryan had told Mr Cowen in no uncertain terms on Wednesday that it would not be a good idea to appoint new ministers.
“We did not think this was a good idea. If it went to a vote in the Dáil we would not have been in a position to support this,” Mr Gormley told a press conference in Dublin.
He said the first he knew that a number of ministers had resigned in order to pave the way for the reshuffle plan was at 7am yesterday. “We were told . . . by the media about this decision. It seemed to be a fait accompli,” he said.
There was considerable anger in Fianna Fáil at the Taoiseach’s botched reshuffle. Minister of State Conor Lenihan said Mr Cowen should resign as the episode had again raised questions about his leadership.
Fianna Fáil TDs received no official notification of the resignations as Ministers of Dermot Ahern, Noel Dempsey and Tony Killeen. One received the news from a friend by text, which arrived after the media had been informed. Several TDs said they would not have accepted a ministerial promotion had it been offered. Minister of State Barry Andrews, who was phoned at home after midnight on Wednesday and offered the justice portfolio, said he was flattered but declined on the basis that he did not want to be seen to be abandoning the problematic children’s portfolio so late in the day.
Another senior TD who has been consistently loyal to Mr Cowen described the Taoiseach’s behaviour on Wednesday night and yesterday as “unfathomable” and expressed the hope that he would now stand down from the leadership of the party.
“We’ve tried our best in the last few years to go in behind him. I got all sorts of abuse for supporting him, and in the last 48 hours he’s ripped the heart out of it. He’s destroyed the party tonight. They’d have no difficulty getting the 18 signatures now. I imagine there’ll be some sort of a move against him. I hope he doesn’t fight it.”
There was total confusion about the Taoiseach’s plans yesterday morning and there were three meetings between him and a Green Party delegation led by Mr Gormley to discuss the impasse.
At the final meeting Mr Cowen was told the Green Party would leave Government if he appointed the new ministers. With six of his own Ministers having resigned the departure of two more would have reduced the Cabinet to seven members, the bare constitutional minimum.
A Government spokesman emphasised that it was only at the final meeting between Mr Cowen and Mr Gormley yesterday that it was indicated that the Greens would not vote for the new ministers.
It was after that meeting that the Taoiseach decided to announce the date of the election in order to avert being forced into an immediate dissolution if the Greens left the Government. He came into the Dáil at 1.30pm to announce the election date and his decision to reassign existing Ministers rather than make new appointments.
Mr Cowen emphasised that the Dáil would be dissolved once the Finance Bill had completed its passage through the Oireachtas.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the Taoiseach had given “finality and conclusion and clarity” to the issue. He hoped that this would restore “some sense of authority and respect and dignity to this House”.
Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore also welcomed the election date. “The Taoiseach attempted a stroke and it backfired. He ended up as a Taoiseach without authority.”
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said Mr Cowen was “a lame duck Taoiseach, with a lame duck Government”.
