Favourite for EU role urged to clear up Ganley link
Tuesday November 17 2009
IRELAND'S anticipated new European Commissioner was urged last night to clarify her past business relationship with Lisbon 'No' campaigner Declan Ganley.
Former Fianna Fail minister Maire Geoghegan-Quinn is widely expected to end a 15-year absence from senior political office today and be named as the country's appointee to the commission.
Former European Parliament President Pat Cox was the only other name featuring in government circles last night.
But Ms Geoghegan-Quinn is almost certain to be named as the country's appointee after Taoiseach Brian Cowen consults with the Cabinet today.
After retiring from politics in the 1997 general election, Ms Geoghegan-Quinn worked briefly with Mr Ganley's group of companies.
Executive
The most reliable version of her work is that she held an executive post in Ganley International for a short period, before moving on. She was a former Communications Minister and Mr Ganley's companies were involved in telecoms at the time.
But Mr Ganley's business interests have come under attack from Fianna Fail over the past 18 months, since he burst onto the campaign scene with his Libertas organisation.
Ironically, the party is now on the verge of appointing a former business associate of Mr Ganley to a plum EU post.
Fine Gael's European Affairs spokesperson Lucinda Creighton said reported links to Mr Ganley needed to cleared up before Ms Geoghegan-Quinn was vetted by the European Parliament.
"We saw on the last occasion it's not just a formality now the appointment of a commissioner," Ms Creighton said.
"After two referendum defeats in the past seven years, it would be really embarrassing if this became a story."
Mr Cox's name continued to feature as the Government is believed to want to secure the Innovation Commissioner portfolio since it carries a big spend on research and development.
Ms Geoghehan-Quinn is tipped to become the EU's Budget Commissioner, as a result of her experience in the European Court of Auditors.
There has been intense speculation about whether it would be Ms Geoghegan-Quinn or Mr Cox, but it is understood gender politics played a role in the decision. EU Commission President Jose Manual Barroso told all 27 countries that he wanted women nominated, but even including Ms Geoghegan-Quinn, only eight are women.
In the coming months the Budget Commissioner will be at the heart of discussions on trimming the EU's €55bn agriculture spending from 40pc to 30pc of the total budget.
- Fionnan Sheahan and Sam Smyth
Irish Independent
