Sinn Fin using Coveney no confidence motion to divide and conquer says Taoiseach
The Taoiseach has described the threat of a Sinn Féin motion of no confidence in Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney as an attempt âto divide and conquerâ.
Micheál Martin said he expected all Fianna Fáil members to support Mr Coveney in any such vote, should it arise, adding the rules of the party were clear â" to support the party and the Government.
He also said he could have âand maybe should haveâ blocked the appointment of Katherine Zappone as special envoy to the UN for freedom of expression when it came up at Cabinet but said his focus had been on issues more important to the country.
Commenting on the threat of a no-confidence motion, Mr Martin told RTà Radioâs Morning Ireland it was an example of âold style, naked politicsâ and it was âa bit rich coming from Sinn Féinâ.
Mr Coveney had apologised on a number of occasions, and to him personally, and had gone before the Oireachtas committee, the Taoiseach said, adding there needed to be some perspective on the issue.
Mr Martin said he did not believe it was an issue that merited resignation â" âthatâs not proportionateâ.
Discussing the issue further on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Martin said: âIf I am honest I think it was wrong. I think perception is important in public life. The Minister has apologised to me for not alerting us and that is important.
âWe have agreed it wonât happen again but there does need to be perspective and balance as well. We are talking about a part-time envoy to the UN for Ireland,â he said.
âThe position I took on it, I flagged the necessity that there would be proper flagging of these appointments to Government, but in my view it wasnât of an order given everything else that was on the agenda that day, and my focus was very much on the bigger items that were on the agenda.â
âInsider dealingâSinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has called on Mr Martin to sanction Mr Coveney and said she believes he should be sacked. She said the possibility of a motion of no confidence in Mr Coveney was âon the tableâ.
The Labour Party said it would support a motion of no confidence in Mr Coveney if one was tabled in the Dáil.
Fine Gael TD Jennifer Carroll McNeill accused Sinn Féin of adopting a âpurely populist approachâ.
Speaking on RTÃâs Today with Claire Byrne, she said the issue was one of proportion and balance. When Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley had sent âan appalling tweetâ she had not sought his resignation, she had asked him to account for himself.
But Sinn Féinâs housing spokesman Eoin Ã" Broin described the appointment of Ms Zappone as âold style insider dealingâ. This was how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael âdo businessâ.
Ms Carroll McNeill said Mr Ã" Broinâs approach was âTrumpianâ and an attempt at generating headlines.
However, Mr O Broin said Mr Coveneyâs response to the issue had not been credible and that after seven weeks there still had not been a credible response from the Government. Mr Coveney would have to address the âinconsistenciesâ.
Mr Coveney appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs for two hours earlier this week, rejecting suggestions he offered Ms Zappone the special envoy job before his officials carried out the work to create it.
The Government also has strongly rejected Opposition claims that the appointment of Ms Zappone to the role, that she later declined because of the controversy, amounted to âcronyismâ.
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