The rift between Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has widened after Mr Ahern refused to leave his vigil at the tree stump in Rathkeale in Limerick to attend a meeting with Mr Cowen over the President’s council of state meeting.
The Taoiseach sent Mr Ahern and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to Rathkeale earlier this month to see if the outline of the Virgin Mary which is allegedly depicted on the stump would intercede on behalf of the economy.
The two ministers have spent most of their time there since. However, Mr Ahern has recently bonded with the stump and has refused to leave it under any circumstances. Cabinet colleagues now fear that his introduction of the Defamation Bill, originally seen as a shrewd move to invoke God when nothing else was working, was in fact a result of his succumbing to religious fervour.
“The stress he and Brian Lenihan are under has been immense,” a Cabinet source said. “It is hardly any wonder they have resorted to religious and patriotic fervour to get them through.” The source said that their colleagues now referred to the two ministers as God (Mr Ahern) and Country (Mr Lenihan).
President Mary McAleese is to state today whether she is referring the Defamation Bill and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill to the Supreme Court. “She has no right,” Mr Ahern said. “Our Lady’s appearance on the stump is a clear indication that she supports the Defamation Bill. There is no higher court.”
Mr Ahern’s words have apparently outraged Mr Lenihan whose patriotic fervour demands support for the office of President. Until now Mr Lenihan has manfully said that it is his patriotic duty not to fall out with Mr Ahern but he is finding it increasingly difficult. “We are facing the prospect of all out hostilities between God and Country,” a concerned Cabinet source said.
