The Taoiseach has rejected a demand from the former minister for justice, Mr Patrick Cooney, for a retraction of comments Mr Ahern made last week when apologising to three journalists for the tapping of their telephones.
In a reply sent to Mr Cooney yesterday, Mr Ahern said he had described the telephone tapping as "inappropriate", not "improper". Mr Cooney had said Mr Ahern's comments implied he had acted improperly in the matter.
The controversy arose following the Taoiseach's apology last week to journalists Bruce Arnold, Geraldine Kennedy and Vincent Browne for the tapping of their phones at various times in the past. Mr Ahern described it as an "inappropriate invasion" of their privacy and interference in their work as journalists.
Mr Cooney saw the Taoiseach's remarks as implying criticism of his behaviour as minister for justice in the 1970s. He took an action against the State on the same matter three years ago, after the State paid £95,000 to Vincent Browne in settlement of an action over the affair. Mr Cooney's action was settled, and the Department of Justice said he was involved in no wrongdoing regarding his authorisation of the tapping of Mr Browne's telephone in 1975.
This week, Mr Cooney objected to equating his actions as minister "with the clearly unlawful actions of your party colleague, Mr Seβn Doherty TD, in respect of Mr Arnold and Ms Kennedy".
In his reply, however, the Taoiseach suggested Mr Cooney has objections to apologising to all three journalists. Mr Ahern said the text of his remarks last week "makes it very clear that I went out of my way not to impute any bad faith or illegality to those who authorised these decisions".
He acknowledged "as Minister for Justice you played, with your predecessors and successors, an important and determined role in the struggle to prevent terrorism from gaining the upper hand in our society".