FORMER FIANNA Fáil deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív yesterday announced he would remain in the party but reiterated his opposition to the fiscal treaty before saying he would not comment further on the referendum.
Mr Ó Cuív said no party other than Fianna Fáil, “for all its faults”, represented his political views. He deliberated on his continued membership over the long weekend after accusing the leadership of attempting to force him out of the party, which is backing the treaty.
“I believe with all my heart and mind that to pass this referendum would be a mistake and that it would signify our acceptance, as a people, of sole financial responsibility for the recklessness of European and Irish banks in Ireland,” he said.
Mr Ó Cuív denied trying to undermine party leader Micheál Martin and insisted he was not attempting to pose a challenge to the leadership. There was no vacancy, he added.
“As a result of my decision I will, therefore, not be making any further pronouncements in the media on the referendum nor taking part in any further media debate as per the instruction of the leadership of the party.”
He said that after careful consideration of the situation he believed that the best contribution he could make was as a member of Fianna Fáil. His supporters and party members in his Galway West constituency in particular had urged him “to work for change from within Fianna Fáil”, he said.
“I will, therefore, continue to work from within to restore the party to its original ethos of representing all classes and creeds in Ireland bound by the common purpose of working for the good of all the Irish people as opposed to any sectional interest.”
He expressed concern about the direction being taken by the EU. While the euro had “conceptual merits”, the decision to join what he described as a “badly designed and poorly constructed” monetary union had cost Ireland dearly.
Mr Ó Cuív claimed larger member states had moved into a position where they could dictate policy, “and that a nation’s influence in the European Union is now in direct proportion to the size of its economy”.
He also denied being motivated by fear of losing his Dáil seat.
Fianna Fail chief whip Seán Ó Fearghaíl welcomed Mr Ó Cuív’s decision.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl wrote to Mr Ó Cuív last week saying the party needed to be allowed to put its position to the people “without being confronted at every turn by a challenge from within the party”.
Mr Ó Cuív claimed the letter had a clear implication that he would have to leave the party if he did not accept its contents.
Yesterday Mr Ó Fearghaíl said: “I would like to acknowledge and welcome my party colleague Éamon Ó Cuív’s confirmation that he will remain a member of Fianna Fáil and will not be campaigning against the party in the referendum campaign. We welcome this clarity and Éamon’s determination to play a constructive role in the renewal of the party.”
Mr Ó Cuív, a grandson of Fianna Fáil founder Éamon de Valera, resigned as deputy leader and from the front bench in March after defying the party’s support for the fiscal treaty referendum.
He has also clashed with Mr Martin over the issue of the party’s preferred future coalition partner, saying he favoured Sinn Féin because the two parties basically came from the same tradition.
Asked earlier if there could be a place in Sinn Féin for Mr Ó Cuív, party leader Gerry Adams told reporters: “I’m not even going to go that way with you. Let Fianna Fáil sort out its own affairs. The Fianna Fáil party obviously has some business to do in terms of the management of its own party and we’ll leave them to that.”
