[5] On the day the 21st Dail convened in Leinster House, Frank Dunlop described Flynn's encounter with the then Taoiseach Jack Lynch:[6] There was a particular hullabaloo as a man in a white suit and polka-dot shirt was shouldered to the front door.

Flynn joined the Cabinet for the first time following the February 1982 general election, when he was appointed Minister for the Gaeltacht.

Two years later he opposed the formation of the coalition government with the Progressive Democrats, describing it "as hitting at Fianna Fáil core values."

In 1990, he attacked the opposition presidential candidate Mary Robinson on a radio show, accusing her of "having a new-found interest in her family" for the purposes of her election campaign.

[11] This attack backfired drastically, causing many women who initially supported Lenihan to back Robinson.

He was reappointed by the Fine Gael-Labour Party government in 1995 and, on both of these occasions, served in the social affairs portfolio.

He said the position meant he had the added expense of maintaining three houses, cars, and housekeepers and regular travel, and described the hassle involved.

She was readmitted to the party on 8 April 2008, having previously been expelled after failing in a libel action against RTÉ which claimed she was involved in selling bogus non-resident accounts to customers while she worked for National Irish Bank.

It found that Flynn "wrongly and corruptly" sought a substantial donation from Tom Gilmartin for the Fianna Fáil party.

It also found that having been paid IR£50,000 by Gilmartin, for that purpose, Flynn proceeded to use that money for his personal benefit, and that the donation funded at least a significant portion of the purchase of a farm in County Mayo.

[2] On 26 March 2012, facing expulsion following the Mahon Tribunal, Flynn resigned in disgrace from Fianna Fáil before he could be ousted.