MINISTER OF State for Finance Martin Mansergh has said his description of The Irish Timesas "a dangerous newspaper" was intended as a warning to political colleagues rather than a criticism of the press.
He said the reaction to the newspaper’s Ipsos/MRBI opinion poll, which showed Labour as the most popular political party, should teach colleagues in Fine Gael as well as Fianna Fáil that they ought to reflect on news stories before reacting to them in a “Pavlovian” manner.
Speaking to the media in Tipperary on Saturday, Dr Mansergh said while he was very glad to have been a contributor to The Irish Timesfor four years and still enjoys reading it, there were times when the paper printed stories "that have a potentially explosive effect".
He believed the opinion poll was one of those.
He questioned the poll’s methodology, claiming that “raw figures of 16, 21, 22 get changed into 17, 28 or 32 and whatever you’re having yourself”.
But, he said, it had been the catalyst for Richard Bruton’s challenge for the Fine Gael leadership.
Dr Mansergh, who is a Fianna Fáil TD for Tipperary South, believed that Enda Kenny’s position as leader of Fine Gael was “strengthened by what has happened – no question about that”.
He declined to comment on which leader of Fine Gael his party would most fear in an election but said he had a great deal of respect for Mr Kenny and “couldn’t resist saying to him, when I was wishing him well on the day before the vote, that if there was an annual political award for the best Charles J Haughey political pupil, he would win it. And he clearly did win it the following day.”
Dr Mansergh also indicated he would oppose any heave against the leader of Fianna Fáil and would always be loyal to the leadership.
