'Bertie has plenty to offer' says local TD

Minister of State Robert Troy believes that Bertie Ahern has “plenty to offer to people in Ireland” and he has no issue with him addressing a grass roots meeting of Fianna Fail members.

The former Taoiseach recently spoke at a meeting of Cosmhuintir Fianna Fáil, a grass roots organisation within the party. The meeting was attended by a number of TDs, including John McGuinness, Marc MacSharry, Jim O’Callaghan and John Lahart.

Minister of State Troy said that while he was not there, he does “not have an issue” with Ahern addressing the meeting.

“Bertie Ahern achieved an awful lot as Taoiseach. He was one of the architects of the Good Friday agreement. He left his mother's grave to ensure that negotiations would be concluded successfully. He is still sought after internationally by war torn countries to speak to them on conflict resolution and I don't see any reason why he wouldn't have something to offer to people in Ireland as well.

"People blamed some of his economic policies for exacerbating the crash here in Ireland and some of the policies you wouldn't rerun them. He has strong points in particularly the area of conflict resolution and dispute resolution. He is sought after internationally and a group of Fianna Fail people asked him to address their meeting. While I wasn't at it, I don't have an issue with it.”