Mary O'Rourke, "Never interfered in the day to day running of CIÉ"
Brian Joyce, Resigned citing fundamental differences with the Minister
The circumstances surrounding the sudden resignation of the former chairman of CIÉ, Brian Joyce, have been the subject of debate in the Dáil. The Minister for Public Enterprise had alleged that Mr Joyce could not "face the music" on the safety report. Mr Joyce accused her of using rail safety as a political pawn to extricate herself from the real issues. In the Dáil, Mrs O'Rourke said that she had an arrangement with Mr Joyce to meet him today to discuss the report. She said that she did not understand why he did not tell her personally he was going to resign.
Mary O'Rourke told the Dáil that she never interfered in the day to day running of CIÉ, but had a duty to ensure that the company was pursuing policies in the shareholders' interest. The Minister said that she drew a distinction between interference and democratic stewardship. She said that Mr Joyce had been an excellent chairman and that she regretted his resignation.
The Fine Gael deputy, Ivan Yates, called on the minister to apologise to Mr Joyce for inferring that he had resigned because he was afraid to face the music over the safety issue. Labour's Emmet Stagg said that it was hypocritical of her to come into the House and praise Mr Joyce, after calling him a coward on radio.
Brian Joyce said earlier that rail safety had absolutely nothing to do with his resignation. He criticised the Minister, whom he accused of using rail safety as a political pawn to extricate herself from the real issues, which he outlined in his letter of resignation. Mr Joyce said that he had not seen the finished report and claimed that the minister was not going to show it to him. In his letter of resignation, which sent to the company last night, Mr Joyce accused the government of interfering in the company's industrial relations.
