Barry Cowen has just been sacked.
Fianna Fáil leader, Micheál Martin, came into the Dáil chamber just before nine o’clock to announce he was firing his Minister for Agriculture.
Mr Cowen has been under pressure for the past ten days over a drink driving conviction from 2016 that only emerged just under a fortnight ago.
He had apologised before the Dáil and his “abject apology” had been accepted by the Taoiseach, up until now.
Fianna Fáil’s partners in Government, Fine Gael and the Greens, had also backed Mr Cowen.
But further revelations this weekend alleged that Mr Cowen had tried to evade the Garda checkpoint the night he was caught drink driving.
Mr Cowen strenuously denies this and claims that the Garda record is wrong.
He is seeking to have this addressed, both on data protection grounds and criminal leaking of information by a Garda.
However, the pressure was further piled onto Mr Cowen this afternoon when Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, raised the issue during Leaders’ Questions and called for more clarity.
Mr Martin finally acted and sacked Mr Cowen after telling the Dáil he was unhappy with the minister’s responses to him.
