SHANNON DEBATE/Political fallout: Fine Gael has insisted that its former leader, Mr Michael Noonan, was authorised to leave the Dáil before a vote on the Government motion during a special debate on the Iraqi war.
Mr Noonan voted on the Fine Gael motion, which made no mention of demands by its party leader, Mr Enda Kenny, that the Government withdraw landing services at Shannon airport from the US military.
But he was not present to vote against the Government motion, which sanctioned the continued use of the airport even though the US has no United Nations mandate for its attack on Iraq.
While Mr Noonan was among a number of Fine Gael deputies who did not vote on the motion, he was not paired with any TD from the Government benches.
The Fine Gael chief whip, Mr Bernard Durkan, said an Irish Times report yesterday about Mr Noonan's failure to vote on the Government motion was "unfair".
The report said: "The Limerick TD was present in the Dáil chamber for the vote on the Fine Gael motion, indicating that he was not paired by the Opposition. This would have excused him without affecting the party's vote."
While Mr Durkan conceded that Mr Noonan was not paired with any Government figure, he said "anyone who was missing was authorised by me not to vote".
Mr Noonan has made no comment since the vote. He could not be contacted yesterday, despite efforts to reach him through the Fine Gael press office. Mr Durkan said he had authorised two other TDs to leave with Mr Noonan. They were Mr Jim O'Keeffe and Mr Pat Breen. All three were running for a train early on Thursday evening, he said.
Mr O'Keeffe was not paired. He has said he did not vote on the Government motion because he had reservations about not supporting the position of the US and Britain. Mr Breen was paired, excusing him from casting a vote. He could not be contacted yesterday.
Limerick East Labour TD Ms Jan O'Sullivan yesterday said that The Irish Times had "seriously misrepresented" her position on the Government's motion by stating that she had joined other TDs in not voting against it.
She said that in the debate she made clear her "profound sense of shame" as a Mid-West TD that Shannon had been used in the build-up to war "and, now, in the war itself".
She voted for the Fine Gael motion but left, with the permission of the Labour whip, Mr Emmet Stagg, just before the vote on the Government motion to attend a function in Limerick in honour of the late Jim Kemmy.