Party trusts Fianna Fáil was not behind document leak, says Gormley

LEADER RESPONSE:GREEN PARTY leader John Gormley has said the release of documents revealing Trevor Sargent's contact with gardaí about a case involving a constituent was not a political leak.

Mr Gormley said the Greens trusted their Fianna Fáil Coalition colleagues and denied he had equivocated on that issue in the aftermath of Mr Sargent’s resignation on Tuesday.

“The facts are clear that this leak, if you want to call it that, came from another source . . . it seems to me not a political source. It’s coming from elsewhere,” he said.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six Onenews yesterday, Mr Gormley said a Government partnership could only work on the basis of trust. "It has to be done on the basis of mutual respect and that is what this Government is about."

He said Mr Sargent had been trying to act in the best interests of an individual. “He was doing his best. But at the same time he recognised that it was an error of judgment and he acted accordingly.”

Meanwhile, former Green Party councillor Tom Kivlehan said the Greens should not be “bounced” into thinking that Fianna Fáil sources had put the information into the public domain because of what had happened to former minister for defence Willie O’Dea.

“There’s no advantage for Fianna Fáil doing this, especially with someone like Trevor Sargent. Pure revenge? Fianna Fáil are big boys. They have often had people brought low, but revenge, no,” he said.