The Fine Gael leader has called for the resignation of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste, for what he called their abject failure to address any of the fundamental problems facing the country. John Bruton was speaking this evening during a Dáil debate on a Fine Gael private members motion. However the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, defended the government's achievements, especially on Northern Ireland.
The Labour leader is to ask his parliamentary party tomorrow to approve the tabling of a Dáil motion of no confidence in the government. In a statement tonight, Ruairí Quinn said that the coalition had been paralysed by its own poor judgement and mistakes and it was time to bring it to an end. Mr Quinn was critical of the failure of Fianna Fáil to support Labour's Justice committee motion asking Mr Hugh O'Flaherty to come before it on the Phillip Sheedy affair. He said that no other single issue had done more to undermine public confidence in the political process than the nomination of Mr O'Flaherty to the European Investment Bank.
