Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

It is a baseless allegation to follow the many baseless allegations made by Mr. Gilmartin against many other Deputies in the House. It is a baseless allegation like that made by Mr. Denis "Starry" O'Brien which was seen off by the Taoiseach in the Circuit Court. It is a baseless allegation like that made against me by Mr. Gilmartin, a man I have never met in my life, nor wish to meet. He made it in 1999 but it was only drawn to my attention earlier this summer. The allegation which was directed at me and the former Tánaiste, Deputy Mary Harney, was scurrilous and absolutely untrue.

There is no evidence against the Taoiseach — that is the bottom line. Prior to the general election, the parties opposite quietly briefed against him but would not attack him publicly for fear of losing the confidence of the electorate. In the light of this volte face, it must now be asked of the Opposition parties where they found their spine, voice and Pauline path to conversion. Let me outline where Deputy Eamon Gilmore found his spine. Embarrassingly, we saw him on "Prime Time" last night in a clip recorded before the general election. He found his spine in the desperate need to break from his predecessor's fawning attachment to Fine Gael. He found it in the desperate decision to mimic the Labour Party strategy of 15 years ago by reviving Dick Spring's attempt to make the Labour Party leader the Leader of the Opposition. The Labour Party is an old party pining for its glory days, grasping at the strategies of the past and in desperate need for a role in modern Ireland.

Deputy Kenny found his voice in the need to counter Deputy Gilmore by topping the latter's call for resignation with a motion of no confidence.

See this speech in context