THE MINISTER FOR Public Expenditure and Reform has apologised unreservedly for what he said was a “cack-handed” criticism of the Referendum Commission and its chairman, retired High Court judge Bryan McMahon.
Brendan Howlin yesterday withdrew comments he made in a weekend interview which prompted the commission to issue an unprecedented rebuke to the Government.
He also backed down from subsequent comments made by a spokesman on his behalf in which he had insisted he had not expressed criticism of it in his earlier remarks.
With the spokesman for the Government saying it gave its full backing to the commission and its “absolutely independent” role, Mr Howlin moved yesterday to ease the rift by apologising for his initial remarks.
He had said the judge had caused confusion among voters leading to the defeat of the referendum.
“I regret that answers I gave to questions during the [referendum] count were seen to be critical of the Referendum Commission,” the Minister added.
“I was simply trying in a cack-handed way to answer the question of what were the issues that led to a No vote.”
Mr Howlin said he unreservedly apologised. “I hope they will accept that it was never my intention to slight them in any way,” he said.
“We have to have an independent voice to weigh and parse and analyse referendum matters and give impartial advice.
“That is what they did and it was never my intention to indicate in any way that they acted in any other way but with complete probity.”
In the interview yesterday on RTÉ Radio’s News at One, Mr Howlin said that the referendum, if passed, would have paved the way for a robust but impartial system of parliamentary inquiry that would have put Ireland on an equal footing with other parliaments.
However he accepted there were several reasons why it had been defeated.
“One factor is the degree of mistrust between people and politicians. I thought the election had addressed a lot of that.
“But there is still a good degree of scepticism about politicians being able to do their job in a completely impartial way. We need to address that.”
He also said that the defeat could have implications for the Government’s ambitious programme to establish a constitutional convention and to hold as many as 10 referendums during its term of office.
