The Fianna Fail TD, Mr G.V. Wright, should not face pressure to resign his Dublin North seat until the outcome of his drink-driving case is known, politicians said yesterday. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, and Conor Lally report.
Mr Wright was arrested last Thursday in Mountjoy Square by Fitzgibbon Street gardaí on his way home from Leinster House after he knocked down a pedestrian.
Yesterday, the accident victim, Mrs Anne Butler (50), a nurse, from the North Strand in Dublin, again complained that Mr Wright had not contacted her directly to apologise.
In a statement on Thursday, he said: "I wish to unreservedly apologise to the person whom I injured and her family for this serious lapse of personal responsibility on my part and wish her a complete and expeditious recovery."
Last night a Fianna Fáil spokesman said Mr Wright said he had been told by legal advisers not to contact Mrs Walsh, who has a badly broken leg, under any circumstances following the accident.
Another Fianna Fáil source told The Irish Times: "If he had contacted her he would have been accused of trying to influence her in some way."
A Fianna Fáil Fingal county councillor, Mr Michael Kennedy, said the issue of Mr Wright's continued place in the Dáil was a matter for himself.
"Personally, I do not feel that it is a resigning issue.
"As far as I am concerned the law is there to deal with everybody, TDs, judges or anybody else," Mr Kennedy said.
"Issuing a unreserved apology in advance of any legal action in court is not something that his legal advisers would be happy with," he told The Irish Times.
The Labour TD for Dublin North, Mr Sean Ryan, was equally of the view that Mr Wright should not face resignation calls until the court case is finished.
"He should not be treated differently from anybody else. There will be a court case and we should await the outcome of that," he said.
Mrs Butler said yesterday she planned to seek legal advice with a view to pursuing the deputy for compensation for the injuries she sustained.
"I'm going to claim for damages.
"I'm going to make sure he does not do this on anybody else, that's how strongly I feel about it. It will be next March before I can even put a foot outside the door."