Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has accused Taoiseach Bertie Ahern of abusing his party's support and goodwill for the Government's approach on Northern Ireland, through secret deals with the Provisional movement.
In a sharply worded attack, he claimed three of those "side deals" had so far been revealed and they "clearly go far beyond the terms of the Good Friday agreement".
Mr Kenny was speaking at a special commemoration to pay tribute to Arthur Griffith, who founded Sinn Féin 100 years ago today. In an unusually critical stance on the Taoiseach's approach to the North, the Fine Gael leader said Mr Ahern had done side deals on the release of the killers of Det Garda Jerry McCabe, on "on-the-run" paramilitaries and on speaking rights for Sinn Féin MPs in the Oireachtas.
Claiming the proposal to use presidential pardons for former paramilitaries, or "on-the-runs", was "an abuse" of that provision, Mr Kenny said the Government's chosen route was "inappropriate, constitutionally dubious and liable to cause immense hurt to the victims of terrorism".
Three weeks after the announcement of presidential pardons, Fine Gael had not yet had any contact from the Government about this.
Mr Kenny said presidential pardons had only been granted three times in the republic's history for miscarriages of justice. Each case related to an armed robbery where there were unsound convictions.
"To extend it to terrorists in the way the Government proposes would raise a whole series of constitutional questions."
Mr Kenny suggested that a different way of dealing with "on-the-runs" had to be found. "At a minimum, these persons should be required to admit their guilt before a court, have a conviction recorded and only be released under a licence that could be quickly revoked if they breach its terms. Such a mechanism could provide an acknowledgment and some comfort for victims and their families who would appear to have no rights whatsoever under the Government's proposal."
He also suggested that the Taoiseach could not be trusted on his claims that he had no intention to go into Government with Sinn Féin. "I would like to believe the Taoiseach when he says that he will not bring Sinn Féin into the Government of this State after the next general election and that he would not be propped up in power by that party. However, his track record of secret deals suggest that he cannot be trusted on this issue."
Calling on the Taoiseach to formally withdraw his proposal for Sinn Féin speaking rights "in the absence of all-party support", he said it was an "undemocratic proposal, which goes far beyond the Good Friday agreement and is an insult to the Unionist population in Northern Ireland".
The Taoiseach had "secretly negotiated a number of private side deals with the Provisional movement, deals which clearly go far beyond the terms of the Good Friday agreement".
Earlier this year while the Government was officially giving Sinn Féin the cold shoulder, the Taoiseach was having secret meetings with Gerry Adams without officials or Ministers present, Mr Kenny said.
