Former EU Commissioner Mr Pádraig Flynn has received a number of offers from publishers to write his political memoirs. Mr Flynn, who dismissed newspaper reports that he was considering a return to local politics by standing for the council seat his TD daughter, Ms Beverley Flynn, will relinquish, said last night he had received calls from "lots of publishers".
He has not yet written what could prove to be a sensational autobiography but said: "I haven't put it out of my mind."
Asked if he was waiting until after he appeared before the Mahon (formerly Flood) tribunal to write the book, Mr Flynn said: "I don't know whether I'll even be called" to the tribunal. "Any communication I had with them was years ago," he said, but if called he was "quite relaxed about it".
The property developer Mr Tom Gilmartin has alleged that he gave Mr Flynn £50,000 (€63,487) for Fianna Fáil, which the party says it never received. Mr Flynn's only comments on the issue in the past have been to say he would welcome an opportunity to appear at the tribunal.
That module of the tribunal is unlikely to be reached before next year.
A regional newspaper yesterday suggested Mr Flynn had been approached by the Fianna Fáil cumann in Castlebar to stand for the local elections next year. Mr Flynn said he had no intention of doing so. He had been "with a gang of lads down in the local hostelry" who were organising the selection convention on September 14th for candidates for the Castlebar ward, which may have been the source of the story, he said.
Ms Flynn will give up her seat as part of the ending of the dual mandate. Those who relinquish their local authority seats by the end of September will receive a payment, but Ms Flynn said yesterday she had not been approached to give up her seat by then and "as of now" planned to stay on until next year.
The memoirs of the gregarious and controversial politician would be expected to deal with a number of issues, including the alleged donation and Mr Flynn's relationship with former Taoiseach Mr Charles Haughey.
