Ahern assails Opposition's `political football' with amendment on judges' issue

The Cabinet will formally decide next Tuesday to hold three referendums on June 7th following yesterday's abandonment of a fourth designed to make judges more accountable.

Clearly furious with the Opposition for opposing the Government's proposed text, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, had tried to get consensus.

"Despite every reasonable effort on the part of the Minister to accommodate Opposition concerns as to the wording of the proposed constitutional amendment, it was not possible to reach agreement," he said.

Such an amendment could not go ahead faced with such `'fundamental disagreement". "I will not allow a constitutional arm of the State to be used as a political football in any referendum," Mr Ahern told the Dail.

Replying to the leader of the Labour Party, Mr Quinn, he accused the Opposition of "playing political football" with the amendment, which would have been the 22nd change to the Constitution had it gone ahead.

Later the Fine Gael TD, Mr Alan Shatter, said the Government's decision not to impose its will in the Dail `'is clear evidence that belatedly it realised that its proposal was riddled with defects and would be resoundingly defeated".

Both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice should stop whingeing and blaming the Opposition for their own unprecedented public display of gross incompetence, the Fine Gael justice spokesman said.

His party colleague, the Cork South West TD, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, said the problems would not have occurred if the Government had listened to the All-Party Constitution Committee.

It had suggested that a Bill to amend the Constitution could not be passed by the Oireachtas until three months after its publication, except in special circumstances with the concurrence of the President.

Following its passage by the Oireachtas, the all-party group recommended that the public should have a minimum of 90 days, rather than the current 21, to make up their minds.

"If Justice Minister O'Donoghue had taken the slightest notice of the deliberative process recommended by the All-Party Committee for constitutional amendments he would not now find himself having to ignominiously abandon the Judicial Conduct Bill," said Mr O'Keeffe.