Minister's 'Defence' Fails

The Irish Republic's Defence Minister Willie O'Dea has resigned over wrongly denying he linked a Sinn Fein councillor to a brothel.

It has emerged that Mr O'Dea gave false information to a journalist last year about a Limerick councillor, Maurice Quinlivan.

He told a journalist: "I'd like to ask Mr Quinlivan, is the brothel still closed?"

Then, Mr O'Dea made a sworn statement denying he had said this but later withdrew it and in December, he agreed at Dublin's High Court to pay damages to Mr Quinlivan.

However, he denies claims by political rivals that he committed perjury.

In his resignation letter, Mr O'Dea said he had come to the conclusion that his continuing in office would "distract from the important and vital work of the government".

Accepting his resignation, Taoiseach Brian Cowen thanked him for his hard work and commitment.

Mr O'Dea's resignation comes just a day after he survived a motion of no confidence in the Irish parliament.

During the debate, Mr O'Dea told the Dail he had made a "genuine and honest mistake" in failing to remember he had made the remarks.

The Fianna Fail representative later saw a transcript of the interview in which he had gone further than what had been quoted in the newspaper last April.

"Having seen the transcript, I took the initiative - I went to my solicitor and immediately corrected my affidavit," he said.

See: Cowen On The Ropes Over O'Dea

(BMcC/GK)