In a heated exchange with the press, Mr Martin, who will become Taoiseach on Wednesday, stated that “balance” on Mr Lowry’s part in forming a new government was required.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has stood by his comments about Michael Lowry in the aftermath of the Moriarty Tribunal but defended negotiating a government with him.
In 2011 following the publication of the Moriarty Tribunal, Mr Martin said it was a “ deep indictment of the conduct of Deputy Lowry” and called on him to resign from the Dáil. “The people of Tipperary and the people of a number of other constituencies have elected independents. I have an overriding obligation now to form a government and to work to form a government.
When it was put to Mr Martin that he was “rewarding corruption”, he said Mr Lowry was not in government. When it was put to him that he had negotiated the programme for government, Mr Martin asked journalists to start interrupting him. He also said there was not the same level of focus toward Mr Lowry when he supported the last government. Elsewhere, Mr Martin attempted to suggest that the public does not care about the ongoing controversy involving speaking time for the Regional Independent Group.
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