Bev set to return to FF

Bev set to return to FF

Áine Ryan

BEVERLEY Flynn has strongly dismissed as ‘nonsense’ charges by a leading local Fianna Fáil activist that her early rehabilitation by the Fianna Fáil party was a quid pro quo by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to ensure she and her father’s silence regarding financial information that may be of interest to the Mahon Tribunal.
Ms Flynn was speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), in the aftermath of a dramatic weekend which saw the unexpected resolution of her three-year-old libel case bill owed to RTÉ and the abandoning of her constitutional challenge to laws barring bankrupts from holding Dáil office.
The colourful Independent TD refuted claims by a leading party activist in Castlebar – who declined to be named – that there was a sinister element to Bertie Ahern’s recent positive comments about her re-entry to Fianna Fáil and her possible mid-term promotion. 
“It’s a simple reality. The reason [for Bertie’s comments] is it’s the democratic will of the people. The bottom line has been the ballot box,” she said emphatically, observing that ‘if somebody has something to say, let them put their name to it’.
The party source also suggested to The Mayo News that the heir-apparent to the Taoiseach, Minister Brian Cowen, might not be so favourably disposed to the so-called Flynnasty. 
“It was Brian Cowen who put the proposal for her expulsion and, let’s say, Bertie doesn’t stay around for too long, her return needed to be rushed through for that reason,” he said.
“We don’t doubt her ability at all. And we understand her power to keep Enda [Kenny] in check, especially after the Fine Gael victory in Mayo. That’s another reason she’s being pumped up,” he continued.
He added that all those activists who fought a hard campaign on behalf of Frank Chambers and Dara Calleary were simply ‘stunned’ but were staying silent and ‘watching this space’ for the moment.
It is anticipated that, with her outstanding legal issues now out of the way, the third-time deputy could be back in the Fianna Fáil fold within weeks, with the dissolved Micheál Ó Móráin Cumann in Castlebar likely to be re-constituted to facilitate her re-entry to the party.
Meanwhile, Ms Flynn stressed that she would be ‘personally’ funding the RTÉ settlement bill, which is reportedly €1.25 million, and which arose from her reported role in encouraging National Irish Bank investors to evade tax.
“It will be funded by me and me personally,” stressed Ms Flynn to The Mayo News. She was obviously referring to speculation that her millionaire developer partner, Mr Tony Gaughan, may be footing the bill, which the High Court Taxing Master set at €1.5 million two years ago, with interest of €12,000 a month, or around €500-a-day since.
Dismissing accusations by RTÉ’s legal team last week that her constitutional challenge was nothing more than ‘a litigious frolic’, she argued that people had misinterpreted the reasons for her action.
“I took the challenge so as to stay in my job, to have an income in order to pay my bill to RTÉ. Even if I had been successful in the challenge, I would have paid my bill. I am a proud person and I have always paid my bills, whether they be my two mortgages or my car loans. I always paid them ahead of time,” said the Independent TD.
She said that last week’s High Court hearings had provided an opportunity to bring both parties around the table again, and a negotiated solution had ensued. However, she added that she ‘equally believed the [constitutional] challenge would have succeeded’.
“It is an antiquated law, and while it’s no longer a matter for me, I hope it will be rectified in legislation soon,” said Ms Flynn.
In turn, Beverley Flynn said she ‘sometimes gets annoyed’ at the public perception of her being ‘a clone’ of her father. While the fact that they are very close is ‘a given’, and  she is ‘very proud of his achievements’, she feels very strongly that she should be judged in her own right and, moreover, she is from ‘a new generation of politicians.
“I would imagine the Fianna Fáil organisation just looked at the campaign I fought and the large support-base I have,” said Beverley, adding she was committed to working in the best interests of Mayo.
“With everything that’s happened I feel I’ve gained 40 years political experience in the last ten years. And now I’m off to a sick child at home with the chicken pocks,” concluded Ms Flynn.