Countdown to vote of no confidence in Dáil under way with opposition motion to censure Frances Fitzgerald in parliament

Ireland’s government moved a step closer to collapsing on Monday night after documents emerged allegedly revealing its embattled deputy prime minister was aware of proposed action against a whistleblower who warned of corruption in the Irish police force.



If the minority Fine Gael coalition falls it will precipitate a snap Christmas general election and weaken the hand of the republic’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, at the crucial EU summit on Brexit next month.

The countdown to a vote of no confidence in the Dáil was under way this evening with an opposition motion to censure the deputy prime minister in parliament due to be proposed on Tuesday.

Documents released on Monday night from the Irish Department of Justice revealed for the first time that Frances Fitzgerald received three emails about senior commanders in the Garda Síochána drawing up a strategy against the police whistleblower. In two of the emails sent to Fitzgerald in July 2015 when she was Ireland’s justice minister she is advised about an “aggressive” approach being taken by a senior Garda officer against Sgt Maurice McCabe, the detective who claimed there was widespread corruption and malpractice in the force.

But in a series of tweets Fitzgerald denied she had interfered in a commission of inquiry into the police whistleblower’s allegations. She said she would expect a tribunal to “objectively” judge her when she gives evidence about the treatment of the whistleblower in January. A number of Dáil deputies from her own party, Fine Gael, called on Fitzgerald to resign in order to avert the collapse of the government in Dublin.

Sources in the main opposition party Fianna Fáil told the Guardian that after this latest information Leo Varadkar had “absolutely no choice now” but to sack Fitzgerald from the cabinet. Otherwise the party sources said Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin would proceed with his party’s vote of no confidence, which could lead to a withdrawal of support for the Fine Gael/Independents minority government. A number of Dáil deputies from Fine Gael also called on her to resign in order to avert the collapse of the government in Dublin.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is under pressure to sack his deputy. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Until this evening Fine Gael parliamentarians and even the taoiseach alongside his foreign minister, Simon Coveney, have insisted that Fitzgerald will not be forced out of office. They have pointed out that a tribunal is currently being held at Dublin Castle to investigate the way McCabe was treated by the Garda leadership over his allegations. Fitzgerald herself spoke about her situation at the weekend vowing not to be forced out of office on the grounds of what she called “summary justice”.

The taoiseach insisted earlier on Monday that “we are are doing everything we can” to avert the crisis and prevent an election before Christmas, which weekend opinion polls in the Irish media suggested the public don’t want. Varadkar met Martin in Cork on Monday evening, with discussions aimed at halting an immediate collapse of the government continuing into the night.

Since the inconclusive 2016 general election Fianna Fáil has operated a “confidence and supply” policy that props up the Fine Gael minority government. This is now in danger of breaking down over a row about the minister, the police whistleblower and the leaked emails.

The publication of the new documents on Monday night from the Department of Justice now piles further pressure on Fitzgerald to resign. One of the emails contains advice to Fitzgerald on how to handle media inquiries about McCabe. In relation to a public inquiry into the McCabe affair the justice department official told her that she should stress that “Sgt McCabe is a valued member of the force” and that she should not make any public comments that possibly could “interfere with or attempt to influence those proceedings in any way”.

In 2015 Fitzgerald told the Dáil that she knew nothing about any personal attacks on McCabe.