Ross ‘surprised’ by Kenny’s response to comments on judiciary

Minister for Transport Shane Ross said he was “surprised” to see the Taoiseach come out against comments he made about the judiciary in the Dáil.

Enda Kenny told the Dáil on Wednesday that he does not accept Mr Ross’s assertions that members of the judiciary lead a “charmed life” and that they “might forget their constitutional oath”.

After being prompted by Labour leader Brendan Howlin, the Taoiseach chose to publicly “dissociate” himself from remarks made by one of the Government’s most high-ranking Independent members.

“I suppose I was a bit surprised that he took the opportunity in the Dáil to do it,” said Mr Ross on Thursday.“But that’s politics, that’s what he does. We come from different backgrounds, we don’t belong to the same groups, and so we have differences from time to time. Of course that’s going to continue. We’re in Government together, and that’s where we compromise.”

Speaking to reporters following the announcement that Brazilian authorities will return Pat Hickey’s passport, the Minister chose to deflect questions citing the ongoing inquiry established by his department.

Abandoned

Mr Hickey remains in Brazil where he is awaiting trial on ticket-touting charges, and Mr Ross refused to answer accusations from charity boss Jonathan Irwin that the Irish Government “abandoned” the Olympics Council of Ireland president, who has temporarily stepped aside from the role.

“Mr Irwin’s got a long history of charity and humanity, I acknowledge that and that’s his view, I’m not going to respond to it,” the Minister said.

He added that he hoped Mr Hickey would comply with the judge-led inquiry in Ireland, while admitting he knew nothing of the State’s extradition arrangements with Brazil.

Mr Ross was attending the launch of a public consultation phase of the National Sports Policy Framework in the Aviva Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Relevant stakeholders have been urged to voice their views on all aspects of sports and coaching as part of the process, and the Minister said he hoped to have the consultation completed “within a couple of months”, with a view to having the new framework finalised by the middle of next year.