It's "business as usual", the EU Commissioner Mr Padraig Flynn said last night in Brussels, insisting he had no intention of resigning over the allegations being made against him by property developer Mr Tom Gilmartin.
Responding to questions from Irish journalists about calls for him to clarify his position, Mr Flynn said he stood by his view that matters proper to the Flood tribunal should be discussed there. To do otherwise, he said, would be to undermine the tribunal process.
He said he had thought he was not alone in holding that view and was disappointed by the explosion of comment. He stood over his previous statement that he had never taken money for favours.
"I am not going to comment on these matters," he reiterated. "When the time comes I will discuss all matters appropriate to the tribunal." Speaking calmly, with the demeanour of a man who expects to be vindicated, the Commissioner stressed that he had "important work to do in the coming weeks and months" and that as far as he was concerned it was "business as usual".
That workload, he said, ranged from agreement on the critical distribution of structural and cohesion funds under Agenda 2000 to a legislative programme that includes the longrunning dispute over a common European company statute, new rights for workers and further action against smoking.
Ruefully acknowledging that the fuss surrounding the Gilmartin claims is unlikely to die down, Mr Flynn appears to be determined to ride out the storm.
