Ó Cuív says Haughey's actions 'reprehensible'

Reaction:Fianna Fáil Minister Éamon Ó Cuív has described the actions of former taoiseach Charles Haughey as described by the Moriarty Tribunal as "very, very reprehensible".

The Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs said that while he had not read the tribunal report, the findings seemed to be "unequivocal".

He said it was his understanding that the tribunal found Mr Haughey took money and that favours were done for the money "and if that is what the report says, that is very, very reprehensible".

In Tubbercurry, Co Sligo, where he officially opened his department's newly decentralised offices, Mr Ó Cuív described the findings in relation to Mr Haughey as "not good for politics in general, not good for the office of the taoiseach and certainly not good for Fianna Fáil - there is no question of that".

But he added that "just because one person acted in a way that was reprehensible", it was not fair to tar the large number of people involved in Fianna Fáil up and down the country in the same way, from those involved at cumann level up to taoiseach who, he said, all worked for the common good.

Mr Ó Cuív also said that Bertie Ahern's practice of signing blank cheques from the Fianna Fáil leader's allowance for Mr Haughey was a "separate issue".