A dispute between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party over the circumstances of former minister for defence Willie O’Dea’s resignation continued today.
Fianna Fáil maintains Mr O’Dea’s decision to resign was made during a phone conversation with the Taoiseach shortly after lunchtime yesterday.
That conversation followed Mr O'Dea's interview with Sean O'Rourke on RTÉ's News at One in which he had said: "My position is in the hands of the Taoiseach to do with as he will."
Green Party sources insisted, however, the resignation had come about when Green Party leader John Gormley told the Taoiseach in mid-afternoon that the party could no longer support Mr O’Dea.
Speaking at an event in University College Cork today, Mr Gormley said he went to see the Taoiseach after a meeting of his parliamentary party yesterday afternoon.
“The precise content of any conversation with the Taoiseach has to remain confidential but what I can say is that I outlined our concerns in detail, and I indicated to the Taoiseach that in my view, Minister O’Dea’s position was untenable and the stability of the government would be under threat as a consequence and it would prove a real distraction,” Mr Gormley said.
"I think the Taoiseach recognised this as did the minister himself - he has paid a price now by his resignation and indeed he has recognised that it was proving to be a distraction I again I emphasise the precise nature of any converation with the Taoiseach is confidential but again, the Taoiseach did recognise the gravity of the situation and he did act accordingly," he said.
Asked if he thought Mr O’Dea would have resigned if he had not outlined his concerns to the Tasoieach, Mr Gormely said: “I don’t know. That’s a matter for speculation at this stage, and I’m not interested in hypothetical situations and speculation, I can only give the facts as I know them.”
Government Chief Whip Pat Carey earlier said the emergence of a combination of new factors yesterday meant the motion of confidence in Willie O’Dea passed in the Dáil on Wednesday could no longer stand.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, Mr Carey said the Government had supported Mr O'Dea during the confidence motion "on the basis of the information that was made to us at the time".
He said a subsequent interview given by Mr O'Dea to the News at One which mentioned Garda involvement in his false affidavit had led to the minister resigning of his own volition.
“One of the issues that certainly raised concerns was the involvement of the gardaí. It was a combination of those issues which brought about the resignation on his own volition,” Mr Carey said.