McDowell should resign - FF councillor

A Fianna Fáil councillor yesterday said she thought the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, should resign after making accusations…

A Fianna Fáil councillor yesterday said she thought the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, should resign after making accusations about leading Sinn Féin members.

Cllr Noreen Ryan of Limerick County Council claimed on RTÉ's Liveline that the Minister was vehemently opposed to Sinn Féin.

When asked if she thought the Minister should resign, she replied: "Yes, I do, because he's after making so many statements and accusing leading members of Sinn Féin of being members of the IRA without any evidence of this."

She said she did not give too much credibility to her own party in the controversy.

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Cllr Ryan said she did not support any criminality but there was criminality in Fianna Fáil too.

When challenged that she sounded like a member of Sinn Féin, she said she was not, but she was a republican.

"My own party should be working towards the end of partition," she said.

Nobody could make a judgment on Sinn Féin and she did not think any party should be tainted with criminality.

Cllr Ryan said she supported the Taoiseach.

She believed he had an intelligence operation going on with regard to who was responsible for the Northern Bank robbery but what was yet to be seen was if that intelligence was accurate.

Speaking later to The Irish Times, Cllr Ryan said it would be better if the PDs removed Mr McDowell as Minister.

"Given his conduct in the last number of days, his credibility is definitely questionable," she said.