BRIAN COWEN is in an unassailable position to take over as the next leader of Fianna Fáil, having received the backing of all his ministerial party colleagues and most members of the parliamentary party, write STEPHEN COLLINS, MARK HENNESSYand HARRY McGEE.
Nominations for the position will close at 2pm tomorrow with a special meeting of the parliamentary party next Wednesday to formally elect the new leader, the party chief whip, Tom Kitt, announced last night.
Although Mr Cowen has not declared that he will be a candidate, Mr Kitt said it was "quite clear" that he would put his name forward for the post. The Tánaiste will be nominated for the position of taoiseach when the Dáil meets on May 7th, the day after Bertie Ahern resigns from office.
The leadership process effectively became a one-horse-race yesterday when one Minister after another ruled themselves out of the race to succeed Bertie Ahern and expressed support for Mr Cowen's candidature.
The last to confirm support for Mr Cowen was the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, who waited until the procedures for the election were announced. "Now that the procedures have been agreed and Brian Cowen has confirmed to me that he will be a candidate, I am happy to confirm that I will be supporting him in the vote for party leader and on the nomination for taoiseach," said Mr Dempsey last night.
Mr Kitt said last night that every TD had the right to put themselves forward for election, but he added: "A seamless transition is what the Taoiseach would like and that is what we would all like to see."
The day began with Mr Cowen's most potentially serious rival, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Micheál Martin, ruling himself out of the race and expressing his support for the Tánaiste.
Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan had ruled himself out the previous evening and backed Mr Cowen.
Throughout yesterday, other Ministers adopted a similar position and the leadership race was effectively closed when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, announced in late afternoon that he was doing the same.
Mr Cowen will not announce his Cabinet team until after he has been elected taoiseach by the Dáil on May 7th but Mr Martin is now the favourite to take over the second most senior position in the Government as Minister for Finance.
The expectation within Fianna Fáil is that Mr Cowen will give the post of tánaiste to one of the other Ministers and the favourites for the position are Mr Lenihan or Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan. The other possible contenders are Mr Ahern and Mr Dempsey.
The Taoiseach meanwhile issued a strong attack on the Mahon tribunal yesterday, describing its treatment of his former secretary, Gráinne Carruth, as "appalling" and "low-life stuff".
Mr Ahern's criticism came in comments to journalists, following a speech at University College Dublin to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement.
"I do feel very sorry the way Gráinne Carruth was dealt with. That was just appalling. It was totally unnecessary. Talk about how not to do something, but anyway that's how it is," said Mr Ahern.
"The way she was harangued. There was no need to harangue her. She just didn't remember something. I mean . . . she was concealing nothing.
"She was a mother of three, hauling her back on Holy Thursday. It's just low-life stuff," he added.
Fine Gael last night described the language used by Mr Ahern about the tribunal as "entirely inappropriate and unacceptable", suggesting that he was suffering "from a delayed sense of guilt over the way he left his former secretary to defend the indefensible regarding his sterling lodgements".
Senator Eugene Regan said it should be remembered that Mr Ahern had full knowledge and sight of the documentary evidence that confirmed the sterling lodgements to his accounts weeks before Gráinne Carruth was asked to explain them.
"The latest outburst of Mr Ahern is consistent with the constant efforts of this Government to criticise, discredit and undermine the work of the tribunal," he said.