Barry Cowen: Taoiseach needs to acknowledge content of Varadkar’s controversial texts

Fianna Fáil ministers have been asking why Fine Gael ministers aren't being held to the same standard.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has said that Taoiseach Micheál Martin needs to acknowledge the content of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar's text messages between himself and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and former minister Katherine Zappone. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar issued an apology on Thursday morning after it was revealed that texts he released between him and former Minister Katherine Zappone were not disclosed when requested earlier by journalists under Freedom of Information (FOI) law. This is the latest development in the ongoing controversy regarding Zappone's appointment to the role of UN special envoy for freedom of opinion and expression, a position she later did not accept. Speaking on Morning Ireland, Cowen said of the matter: "It's just something that fails to go away, despite many efforts by those concerned to draw a line under various aspects of it. It's very disconcerting, it's very disappointing. He said that when Coveney apologised to the Taoiseach for the manner in which the appointment of Zappone was brought to Cabinet and that "a transparent open competition for such positions will have to be in place if such envoys are to be appointed in the future," it felt like it "was the end of the story" However, recent comments by Coveney suggest that Fine Gael ministers were "a lot more aware of a lot more of the details than had previously been thought or expressed", Cowen added. In the summer of 2020, Cowen was sacked as Minister for Agriculture by the Taoiseach following controversy over a four-year-old drink-driving ban. [caption id="attachment_730098" align="alignnone" width="600"] Image via Rolling News[/caption] Asked if Fine Gael ministers were getting away with breaches at Cabinet that Fianna Fáil ministers were having to resign for, Cowen replied: "That is something that is being said within our organisation and indeed by members of the public. "During the course of the issues concerning the matter and the incident for which I was held responsible, I was told that this issue was dominating the public domain and was getting in the way of Government business. Some would argue that this is getting in the way of very difficult Government business too. "I think the Taoiseach needs to address the issue and the content of the texts that we've heard about yesterday. "He needs to acknowledge the content of those texts which places him in an invidious position of having been told some weeks ago that Fine Gael ministers were only aware of this issue on the day of the Cabinet meeting. That now appears not to be the case. "Not only that, but quite detailed information was shared between the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs in relation to the issue. "All three parties need to meet and all three parties need to resolve this issue for once and for all and get on with the business of Government that we were all elected to do." Asked if the Taoiseach should sack Coveney and Varadkar, Cowen replied: "The Taoiseach... was very decisive on matters of similar natures in the past. "Let the Taoiseach decide how he wants to deal with this issue now."