Finlay: Bruton 'no longer in the arena' to be influencing decisions
The head of Barnardos and former Labour party advisor Fergus Finlay has said Enda Kenny will not thank former Taoiseach John Bruton for his intervention in the row over abortion legislation.
In an article in the Irish Independent today, Mr Bruton argues that suicide should not be a ground for a termination and that he knows of no other area of law where a threat of suicide is grounds to make legal something that would otherwise be illegal.
Last night the Taoiseach Enda Kenny appealed for calm and asked people to wait until the legislation is published before making judgment.
Fergus Finlay said it is not up to former Taoisigh to lead the country to a decision on the legislation.
He said: "John Bruton is no longer in the arena. Enda Kenny's in the middle of it, he has to fight the battle, he has to lead the country through a decision on a very, very difficult social issue.
"I doubt if he will be waking up this morning saying 'Gee, thanks for the advice John'. I think he will probably secretly be saying (that) former Taoisigh should be former Taoisigh and let me get on with my job.
"Although of course he won't say that publicly."
