Sargent’s Full And Frank Account
Monday, 08 March 2010 16:00
Former Junior Minister for Food and Horticulture and local TD, Trevor Sargent, paid a visit to the offices of North County Leader, your No. 1 local newspaper recently. He wanted to explain to all of the people of the North County the events that led to his shock resignation. He gave a full and frank account of the events which led to his departure from office. He said, “An individual in fear of his life following an assault, was left hospitalised. His legal case was making very slow progress and a number of key witnesses had not yet been interviewed, although the case had commenced. In exasperation, he asked firstly that I would communicate to the Gardai his fears of being attacked and make a plea for his protection, and that their notice be drawn to the fact that witnesses were not even interviewed.” He claimed his predicament was that he did not realise that simply passing on this information by writing or by phonecall could be deemed as unlawful. “I was not trying to be clandestine, rather the opposite. I was trying to be transparent about the issue. I could have written to the Superintendent, but didn’t want to get the garda in trouble by pulling rank. The 1974 legislation says that you must be a family member, social worker, solicitor, doctor or witness to write such a letter,” he said. “I had to take some action to help. When I didn’t hear back, I got a call from a senior garda, saying it was inappropriate. I accepted this, but when the victim came to me saying he was afraid to face his attacker in court, I wrote to the superintendent asking him to keep an eye on the case.” This effectively sums up the predicament that caused Green TD and former Junior Minister to resign his ministerial portfolio. In an act of generosity, he decided to donate his severance package amounting to €7,000 to charity. “This package came as a surprise to me and I know there are people more in need of it than me. I know that the St.Vincent de Paul in the North County is under huge pressure, so I arranged to pass the money on to them for use in this area when it arrives.” When asked about the highlighs of his Ministerial career, he said, “The most immediately helpful one to growers was the €13 million, mainly to the North County to update equipment and make them more competitive. I regard Grow It Yourself as part of my legacy. Turvey allotments is another scheme I was involved with, although I had to intervene directly with John Gormley, Minister of the Environment to ensure the allotments were completed.” Meanwhile, local politicians of all different persuasions were quick to pay tribute to Sargent. Local Fianna Fail TD, Michael Kennedy was fulsome in his praise for Sargent’s contribution to the North County. He said, “I have always known Trevor to be a tireless worker for North Dublin, a TD and Minister of State who was committed to his constituents and his brief. I am confident that Trevor will continue to provide excellent representation and a strong voice for the people of North Dublin and I look forward to continuing to work with him,” he said. Fellow Fianna Fail TD, Darragh O’Brien, also paid tribute to his constituency colleague, when he said, I have found Trevor Sargent to be a dedicated and committed colleague. He was a great Minister and is an enthusiastic constituency worker. Fine Gael’s Dr James Reilly TD said it is a sad day for Trevor Sargent but said that the former Minister of State did the honourable thing in resigning. He had to take this step in the interests of probity and maintaining standards in high office” |
