THE SIXTH MEMBER of Fianna Fáil who was set to be expelled from the party later this week has formally quit the party today.
Finbarr Hanrahan, a former councillor from Lucan, this morning quit the party, ahead of a vote at Friday’s meeting of the National Executive which was due to vote on a motion expelling him.
His resignation means that all six of the party members who had been up for expulsion have voluntarily quit the party themselves.
Hanrahan follows former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, former minister and EU commissioner Pádraig Flynn, former TD G.V. Wright, former senator Don Lydon and former councillor John Hannon had already handed in their resignations this week.
As each member has left the party, they cannot be expelled from it, and therefore motions seeking to remove them from the party membership will not be taken.
Friday’s meeting will still go ahead, however, and will discuss proposals to transfer the assets of the Dublin Central constituency organisation – including the controversial St Luke’s building used by Ahern as his constituency office – into the control of the party headquarters.
The final report of the Mahon Tribunal said the tribunal was satisfied that Hanrahan had “corruptly sought a payment of IR100,000 (of which IR£50,000 was to be paid upfront) from Mr [Tom] Gilmartin in return for his support for the rezoning of the Quarryvale lands” in 1989.
It was satisfied that no money changed hands, however.
Hanrahan ran unsuccessfully for the Dáíl in 1992 and again in 1997, as well as for the Seanad in 1993. He lost his council seat in 1999 and retired from politics afterwards.
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