The Government has defended the nomination of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty to a major EU post against an Opposition outcry, saying the decision was based entirely on merit.
His nomination to the Luxembourg-based £147,000-a-year post as vice-president of the European Investment Bank marks an extraordinary reversal of fortune for the man the Government threatened to impeach last year at the height of the Sheedy controversy involving the early release of a man convicted of dangerous driving causing death.
Mr O'Flaherty described the appointment as "a singular honour" and said he would make no further comment until the appointment had been ratified.
Opposition claims that the Sheedy affair should debar the former Supreme Court judge from the job were rejected out of hand last night. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, obtained the approval of all Ministers, including the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Tanaiste, Ms Harney, in the past fortnight before announcing the nomination yesterday, his spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Ms Harney confirmed that she had been consulted and raised no objection.
However, in a vehement condemnation of the appointment, the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said yesterday he was "staggered" and "flabbergasted" at a decision he said would add to cynicism about the Government and politics in general.
A spokeswoman for Mr Mc Creevy declined to comment on the Sheedy affair, maintaining it had "nothing to do" with this nomination. A spokesman for the Taoiseach said he agreed with Mr McCreevy's spokeswoman; it was the Minister for Finance's decision and he had nothing to add. Mr McCreevy's statement refers to Mr O'Flaherty's "distinguished legal career"; his spokesman said other EIB vice-presidents also had legal backgrounds.
Mr O'Flaherty resigned from the Supreme Court in April last year after his intervention in the Sheedy case was described by the chief justice at the time as "inappropriate and unwise". In his report on the case, Mr Justice Hamilton said the intervention "left his motives and actions open to misinterpretation and that it was therefore damaging to the administration of justice".
Mr Quinn said the decision was "contemptuous" of the Dail and the institutions of the European Union and challenged the Taoiseach and Tanaiste to seek Dail approval for it next week.
Fine Gael's finance spokesman, Mr Michael Noonan, called on Mr McCreevy "to state clearly the considerations which led the Government to believe that Mr O'Flaherty is the most suitable candidate for the position".
The Sheedy affair, which sent tremors through the judicial and political systems, involved the release in controversial circumstances of a Dublin architect, Mr Philip Sheedy, from jail in Nov ember 1998 after serving just one year of a four-year sentence for drink-driving causing death. The case was relisted for review following an intervention by Mr Justice O'Flaherty.
Mr O'Flaherty was once seen as a candidate for the post of Chief Justice, and supporters in the Government parties and the legal profession believed he had paid a high price for what Mr Justice Hamilton characterised as actions grounded in a spirit of "humanitarian interest".
As he was resigning at the age of 61 - 11 years before the retirement age for a Supreme Court judge - special legislation was introduced to ensure he received an annual index-linked pension of £40,000. He will receive this on top of the EU salary of £147,000, the equivalent of a European commissioner's remuneration, which is paid under a favourable tax regime.