Former Government chief whip Tom Kitt has announced he will not contest the next general election.
The Dublin South TD was demoted by new Taoiseach Brian Cowen in yesterday's Cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Kitt - who was elected as a TD for the first time in 1987 - said today that he had turned down the invitation to take a junior ministerial post in the reshuffle.
Speaking on RTÉ's Pat Kennyshow this morning, Mr Kitt made clear he intended to continue representing his constituents from the backbenches until the next general election.
“Brian has my full support and I really wish him well. I’ve informed him that I’ll not be running in the next general election,” said Mr Kitt.
“I will be representing my constituents in Dublin South as a backbench TD until the next election, which I hope will be in 2012, and am going to look at my life, which will certainly move in a different direction.”
“Obviously you go through a lot of emotions when you lose your position and I’m moving on. I was government chief whip for the last four years and I enjoyed it but now I’ve left the cabinet and I’m not in the first team on this occasion,” he added.
Mr Kitt, who was appointed Government Chief Whip in 2004 said he wasn’t bitter about being replaced by Pat Carey in the Cabinet reshuffle.
“I’m not a bitter person and there’s not an ounce of bitterness in my body today. In talking to Brian we had a civil discussion in relation to the scenario. I was offered a Minister for State which I appreciate but I’ve been there and done that.”
Nonetheless, Mr Kitt said if he hadn't been dropped in Mr Cowen’s reshuffle, he wouldn’t have announced his intention to step down.
“If I had been given the promotion then one is part of a new team, then quite frankly that’s a very different position and that would have brought huge responsibilities," he said. “I would have been signing on as a very active member of the new team. The opposite is that if you’re not signing on for the first team then you have to look at other options.
“There’s no question about that, had I been on the first team the commitment would have been 150 per cent.”
