FORMER taoiseach Bertie Ahern encouraged members of the cabinet to vote for Mary McAleese in the internal party election to determine the Fianna Fáil nomination for the presidency in 1997, the deputy leader of the party at the time has revealed.

The sensational claim, which directly contradicts Ahern's assertions that he backed Albert Reynolds for the presidential nomination and did not interfere in the nomination process, will be made on RTé's The Week in Politics tonight by Fianna Fáil TD and former government minister Mary O'Rourke.

In a pre-recorded interview with journalist Sean O'Rourke, the Fianna Fáil matriarch said, "We were encouraged by the then taoiseach. It was said ambiguously and round the bushes – but the message was quite clear that Mary McAleese was a fine person.

"I was going to vote for her anyway, so I didn't need any pointing or any signage on it. But, yes, members of the cabinet were encouraged by the then taoiseach to consider voting for Mary McAleese."

In 1997, Reynolds announced that he was interested in succeeding Mary Robinson in Áras an Uachtaráin.

His first step to becoming president was to win the Fianna Fáil nomination and he faced McAleese and Michael O'Kennedy in the internal party battle.

Reynolds was left humiliated when McAleese beat him in that vote and has blamed Ahern for the last 12 years for the defeat.

In his recently published autobiography, Ahern talks about the night of the vote, and writes, "Certainly there were those looking to see Albert defeated. But I wasn't one of them... Albert kept his composure, but he was very upset about the result. He had thought he was going to win until close towards the end. To miss out at the last minute really hurt. But the truth was that Mary McAleese was a serious, formidable candidate.

"I was sitting beside Albert at the count and commiserated with him afterwards. Some of his supporters seemed to blame me for his defeat. They should have been asking why they hadn't run a better campaign for him. Their only criticism of me could be that I didn't go out there and win it on their behalf.

"There was no arm-twisting or ringing around. And of course I had to be careful not to offend Michael O'Kennedy, with whom I had worked for years and who was also a trustee of the party. I'm afraid the conspiracy theorists who say we had this all worked out, keeping Mary McAleese back until the last minute, were just kidding themselves."

Ahern also claims in his book that it was unfortunate that "Albert would never miss the opportunity to try and give me a kick when the chance arrived, and did so on several occasions".

O'Rourke's comments on tonight's The Week in Politics programme back up Reynolds' argument. Reynolds has also published his memoirs in recent weeks and he refers to that night in 1997 in the book.

He states: "I lost the vote and Mary McAleese emerged triumphant. I was sure that Bertie's pretence of remaining neutral was just that, a pretence. He even made a big show that he had cast his vote in my favour... but I remember Brian Crowley, a Fianna Fáil MEP, sitting next to me and, as Bertie, smiling, held up his vote card with my name on it, whispering: 'You're f***ed!'

"Of one thing I was sure – it was inconceivable that Fianna Fáil would have backed McAleese without their leader's connivance or encouragement, albeit through intermediaries. Bertie had 'shafted me' again."