Mayo TD voted out of Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party

Ms Beverley Cooper-Flynn has been voted out of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party by a large majority following a four-hour meeting today.

In a show of hands, 68 members voted for Ms Cooper-Flynn's removal meaning the Mayo TD is no longer a member of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party but remains a member of Fianna Fáil. Just over 70 members of the 110-strong Parliamentary Party attended the meeting.

Ms Cooper-Flynn has already been nominated as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Mayo. This is the second time she has been removed from the parliamentary party having been expelled previously for refusing to support a Government vote against her father. She was readmitted a number of months later.

The meeting between the Mayo TD and senior party members began in Leinster House at 11.30 a.m. and continued through the day with a number of adjournments for consideration on points of law.

The motion passed was put before the meeting in the name of Government Chief Whip Mr Séamus Brennan TD. It was seconded by Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Brian Cowen.

It reads: "The Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, while acknowledging that Deputy Beverly Cooper-Flynn is entitled to exhaust all rights of appeal in the court process, considers that it is in the best interest of the party and the work of the Government that, pending the final outcome of any appeal that she may pursue, the Fianna Fáil whip be withdrawn from the deputy."

A final decision about whether to appeal the recent High Court ruling had not been made, according to Ms Cooper-Flynn.