Taoiseach says Lawlor airport controversy closed

The Taoiseach has said that he has accepted the apology given by the Aer Rianta Director, Dermot O'Leary. Mr O'Leary apologised for his role in helping the former Fianna Fáil TD, Liam Lawlor, to pass through a side door at Dublin Airport last month.

The written apology was sent last night to the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke, who also said that she accepted it. Speaking to reporters at a human rights conference in Dublin, Mr Ahern indicated that he would not be challenging Mr O'Leary's position on the National Executive of Fianna Fáil and that he now regarded the matter as closed.

However, Fine Gael this morning again called on Minister O'Rourke to dismiss Mr O'Leary from the Aer Lingus board. Jim Higgins, the party's spokesman on enterprise, said that he did not regard the matter as being closed by what he described as Mr O'Leary's eleventh hour U-turn.

He said that Mr O'Leary's position on the Aer Lingus board remained untenable, as a board member could not put politics before the work of the board, and should not be involved in making any special arrangements for "political cronies".