Fianna Fail Ministers decided whom they would nominate for the Presidency without any interference from the party leadership, the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Mr Willie O'Dea, said.
Some people in the media were persisting in the belief that Fianna Fail was being run in 1997 like it was in 1987, he said. "The simple truth is that it is not, and I can state that every Minister and Minister of State was allowed to make up his or her mind without any interference, without arm-twisting or even a nod or a wink from the leadership."
The media were attempting to create the impression that some form of pressure had been applied on the night before the presidential nomination, but this had not happened.
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