The resignation of one of Fianna Fail's most prominent members in Co Laois and his invitation to the Flood and Moriarty tribunals to come to the midlands and "put to bed some rumours in the area" has generated political heat in the area.
Mr Tomas Jacob, who said he was a lifelong Fianna Failer and has served it for 20 years, resigned from the party last week. He remains chairman of Portlaoise Town Commission, with the support of two Fine Gael members and the Sinn Fein commissioner, Mr Brian Stanley. Fianna Fail had been in control of the body for 15 years.
Following his election, he told local journalists that Fianna Fail should have known what to expect because of the way he had been treated at the last local government elections.
He had opposed the party line on the issue of the location of the cancer unit in the midlands and was a prominent member of the Portlaoise Action Committee which wanted the unit there rather than in Tullamore. In the end, the unit went to Tullamore.
He said the local Fianna Fail TD, Mr John Moloney, had strongly supported Ms Catherine Fitzgerald, another Fianna Fail candidate, who took his seat in the county council at the last local election.
"They knew what was happening because I have not participated in any functions since last June of 1999. I have worked hard as a public representative for over 20 years and I don't think I did any wrong to anybody. I did not deserve the treatment that was handed out to me and I am not prepared to accept that."
Earlier this week at his Portlaoise home, Mr Jacob repeated his invitation to the tribunals to visit Laois and the other local authority areas. "I am one of the few PAYE payers involved in local politics down here and as a matter of principle, I would like to see all wrongdoing investigated," he said.
"I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not inferring any wrongdoing against any officials in the local authorities here, but when you see what happened in Dublin with the shopping centre there and the rezoning of land, it makes you think. I would like to see both tribunals go to every council area in the country to look at rezoning and other issues. If there is wrongdoing, it should be rooted out."
Mr Jacob said he and his family had been put under a great deal of pressure because of their stand on the cancer care unit. "I was told during the election that I was way ahead in the polls and I should be sharing my vote. I was lied to and I lost my seat," he said.
Mr Jacob, an ESB employee who is currently recovering from an accident, said he had been approached by a number of people from the Hospital Action Committee to run as an independent candidate in the next general election.
"All I can say is that there is nothing concrete yet. I will be running as an independent councillor in the next local elections but the general election issue does not arise as yet," he said.
A local Fine Gael TD, Mr Charles Flanagan, called on Mr Jacob to elaborate on his public invitation to the tribunals to come to Laois.
He said the comments he made "in this time of sleaze and corruption" meant that it was easy for someone to paint with a broad brush and implicate politicians of all persuasions in allegations of sleaze.
"With regard to the Flood tribunal, the terms of reference deal specifically with planning matters and if Mr Jacob has allegations to make on planning matters in Co Laois, he should do so at the earliest opportunity," Mr Flanagan said.
"Over the past month there have been rumours circulating throughout the county and the comments of the chairman of the town commission have added considerably to the climate of innuendo and rumour."
He called on Mr Jacob to "come clean".
Failure to do so, he said, would mean his move from Fianna Fail would be seen as opportunistic and self-centred rather than in the public interest.