The Taoiseach has been accused by Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, of living in a "fantasy world of his own" following comments Mr Ahern made this morning on Irish companies being excluded from bidding for contracts to rebuild Iraq.
Speaking on RTÉ radio this morning, Mr Ahern said that Ireland's exclusion from a list of 63 countries drawn up by the US that could compete for contracts to rebuild Iraq was "a proof that at least the rest of the world understood" that Ireland was against the war.
Responding to Mr Ahern comments, Mr Rabbitte said: "The comments by the Taoiseach in which he now tries to depict himself as a long-standing opponent of the war in Iraq are an insult to the intelligence of the Irish electorate and particularly to the huge number of people throughout the country who marched in February to express their opposition to the war, including 100,000 in Dublin.
Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesperson, Mr Gay Mitchell, said the Taoiseach had been made to look foolish after the United States decided to prevent Ireland from bidding for multi-billion dollar reconstruction contracts in Iraq worth $18.6 billion, in spite of allowing thousands of US troops to pass through Shannon airport.
It emerged today that there was very little chance of an Irish company winning a contract in the first place as one of the citeria for contracts, meant a primary contractor would have to be a multi-billion dollar company and also be a contributor to President George W. Bush's campaign re-election campaign.
However, Irish companies will be allowed to operate as sub-contractors as there are no restrictions in that regard.
Mr Rabbitte said: "Mr Ahern's extraordinary attempts to reinvent himself as a peace-activist are in stark contrast to the craven approach he adopted to President Bush and his colleagues in the run up to and during the course of the war. When he visited The White House in Washington on March 13th, just as the conflict was about to be launched, he apparently managed to conceal from George Bush that he was 'dead against the war'," he added.
Mr Mitchell said: "In weighing Irish interests in relation to the use of Shannon by the US military, and allowing US overflights of Ireland during the Iraq war, the Government claimed it took into account our trading and commercial interests with the US. It now seems that the US does not have a reciprocal view and the Taoiseach has been made to look rather foolish" .
