Deputy Cooper-Flynn supports government in afternoon vote

The Mayo deputy, Beverly Cooper-Flynn, voted with the Government in the Dáil this afternoon on a bill. The bill allows the government to make contributions to the International Monetary Fund, among other things. She went into the division lobbies along with other coalition deputies on an amendment to the Bretton Woods Agreement Bill.

The Taoiseach earlier expressed the hope that she would continue to support the government, despite her loss of the Fianna Fáil Whip. Ms. Cooper-Flynn is now among the independent deputies in the Dáil after she guaranteed her expulsion from the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party by voting against a Government amendment.

Mr. Ahern said that he is honoured to work with colleagues who he believes have the highest standards of integrity in political life in this country. Responding to the comments of Desmond O'Malley and Ms. Cooper-Flynn in the Dáil last night, Mr. Ahern said that this generation of Fianna Fáil people started out some years ago to try and place a modern party, honestly and justly, in the 21st century.

As far as he was concerned, he said, nothing is going to move them away from that. He said he will continue to do what he believes is right, so that he positions the party correctly.

Last night's contentious amendment was made to a Fine Gael motion calling on her father, the EU Commissioner Pádraig Flynn to make a statement on the allegation that he received 50,000 pounds from the property developer, Tom Gilmartin. Despite Ms. Cooper-Flynn's vote, the Dáil passed the motion by 78 votes to 75.

In a statement to RTÉ's Western Correspondent this morning, Ms. Cooper-Flynn said that she was very tired and upset at the events of the past two days and hadn't given any consideration to any other aspects of the matter at this stage.

Even when she had finished speaking in the debate on her father, nobody, including the government, was quite sure how she would vote. When the first vote was called she voted with the Government; on the second she voted against them and then left the Chamber without voting at all in the final vote.

All day long Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had tried to reach an agreement that would have resulted in no vote being taken. Just before seven o'clock it looked like they had a deal. But then Labour scuppered their plans by saying they would call a vote.

Their reason, according to themselves, was that the whole point of the motion was to cause difficulties for the Government, not to solve them. So, not only did Labour assist in keeping the Flynn issue alive in the Dáil, but they also forced the loss to the Government of the Mayo backbencher who automatically loses the whip.

The Government, supported by Jackie Healy Rae, Mildred Fox, Harry Blaney and Tom Gildea, defeated the combined opposition of Labour, Fine Gael, the Greens, Sinn Féin, Joe Higgins and Tony Gregory but at some cost.

There are many in Fianna Fáil who recognise that Beverly Cooper-Flynn was in a very difficult position on this issue but they also felt her remarks about the party were quite intemperate.