Professor Alan Ahearne:

In my opinion ... I heard it on the radio. I ... I called, I think, maybe someone in the press - the press office - and I said, "Was that expected or was that planned? What's the story here?". So it was a big surprise to me. I didn't speak to the Minister immediately after that - it would probably be a good bit later that day - and I didn't discuss it with him. He had moved on. My understanding is, from all the people who spoke to him very quickly, is that he was ... he was annoyed about it, but it was ... by the time I spoke to him, it was a fact of life and we had moved on.