Oireachtas

’The unity conversation needs to be open, transparent, and let’s keep open minds, because we need to flesh out what Irish unity would look like and what the UK union would look like’

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Ian Marshall is a beef farmer, a former dairy farmer, and was president of the Ulster Farmers Union from 2014 to 2016. But more significantly he was until earlier this year a senator in Ireland’s Oireachtas – a unionist in Ireland’s second legislative chamber. A quite remarkable situation. Many observers were disappointed – as was Ian – that he was not elected back into the Seanad’s agricultural panel, nor appointed on the lists of new Taoiseach Micheál Martin or the …

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Expert forum to advise on the misuse of Dáil privilege…

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This was launched whilst I was away, but it’s long overdue. I’m pretty certain Dail privilege is cast iron guaranteed via Article 15.10 of the Irish Constitution, but that guarantee has been used to launch attacks on individuals outside parliament. So Ceann Comhairle Sean O’Fearghaíl (the Dail’s first freely elected ‘speaker’) has announced the establishment of an expert forum on Dáil privilege. According to the terms of reference, there are two key issues at play (PDF): …make recommendations on how …

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“School’s out for Summer Schools”: The Week In Irish Politics

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So that’s it. The political term over and done with. Politicians off on their holidays and the lights all off in Leinster House. They’re all in Marbella, Magaluf or Corfu. At least that’s the impression you get any time you read the papers upon the rising of the houses of the Oireachtas for any recess. In reality, the political world keeps turning and politicians are still at work, be it in the constituency, developing policy, meetings with various groups, or …

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“Impassioned speeches of outrage and demands for accountability? No, Sinn Féin abstained.”

| Readers 1958

Sinn Fein got plenty of exposure in the Dáil last night. They were first of the list when it came to the Taoiseach’s speech in a motion of confidence in the government last night (which only squeaked through by votes). He was followed by Micheal Martin who as ever probably had the sharpest account of how what has already happened above the border had the potential to be repeated south of it: The question before us is not how do …

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If the Dail was like any other workplace it would sit from 9-5 Monday to Friday…

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So here’s interesting one. It seems that Sinn Fein’s campaign against selling alcohol in the national parliament has been passed on to the new generation of TDs. Louise O’Reilly yesterday questioned the necessity of having two bars in the Houses of the Oireachtas: “I find it incredible that my new workplace has not one but two bars. Aside from providing employment, albeit with somewhat erratic hours, I cannot see any reason for the existence of bars in this or any other …

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“Government isn’t a rolling seminar; its function is executive, not discursive…”

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In the Inside Politics digest from the Irish Times this morning, Pat Leahy had this to say about cabinet responsibility: The reason there is a requirement for government to act collectively is that it defines the executive will of the state. Government isn’t a rolling seminar; its function is executive, not discursive. A cabinet must make decisions; to govern is to choose. Inevitably, in our imperfect world, those decisions will often be between unpleasant alternatives. He’s talking  about the tough …

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New Dail will be all about who can tag whom with legislative responsibility…

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Brilliant from Jason O’Mahony, on the awkward situation Fine Gael now find themselves in. If you still struggle with understanding the difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail (and despite all guff being written recently there definitely is one: it’s just not ideological), read this: Someone once said to me that the problem with Fine Gael is that they’re that lethal mixture of being both arrogant and stupid. You can survive by being arrogant but clever, or by being dim but …

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Leinster House’s deadly slow choreography aimed at giving the 32nd Dail a meaningful narrative?

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In the Irish Times Pat Leahy lays out what he thinks will happen in the days after  what’s likely to be another choreographed failure to form a government in the Dail today.  What will be discussed is not a coalition or even a shared programme, but the terms under which Fianna Fáil might enter into a “confidence and supply” arrangement with a Fine Gael-led minority government. Under such an arrangement, Fianna Fáil would consent to the formation of government (probably …

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How to build coherent government when power is becoming more distributed?

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Suddenly, so much to blog and so little time to do it in. This from Noel Whelan is well worth a few minutes of your time on the politics of stalemate… In particular, this minor note which hints at the larger at play here… When someone loses power it becomes obvious – one can literally see it drain away. Kenny is still in office, as caretaker for now, but he has lost power. Fine Gael lost the campaign and they …

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LIVE: Opening of the Dail and the first ever fully independent Ceann Comhairle…

| Readers 446

So today, the new Dail returns. Unlike its predecessors, it will start off business by electing it’s speaker or Ceann Comhairle (CC) firstly by secret PR STV ballot. Given the low numbers granted to all parties and not it will be hard to game in the usual ways. The radical shift here is getting the CC elected by the parliament before the new government. If you look back through history the party of the CC almost always matches the party …

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“One way to lessen the destabilising effect of more diverse Dails… “

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FIXED TERM DAIL: Dan O’Brien argues that the seminal moment of the last five years is the demise of the big catch all single party (ie, Fianna Fail) in the Republic, giving rise to the prospect of gross instability in future Irish governments. But does anyone currently in politics (with a prospect of wielding power) really want it?

Politicians and silly expenses claims

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In the news today we are told that Alan Shatter claimed €12 for passport photos on his expenses and also for injections he had to take before travelling. Now, let’s be honest here this isn’t the biggest news in the world. Nor will the country be facing ruination over the claim. It is far from the worst thing any politician has done. It does, however, raise the issue of expenses again. There will be a rush of people to slam …

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Dail Eireann “system is too complex and contains rules that are not mutually compatible…”

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The Council of Europe is a Strasbourg based international organisation concerned with the development of legal and judicial structures in member countries. It is not part of the EU, and its recommendations are advisory rather than mandatory. There’s a report out today from one of their programmes flagging up some concerns about corruption in Ireland the details of which are well worth considering. Interesting, it praises the increasing transparency of the parliamentary process. That’s not to say that some inside the …

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Treating the Dail (and therefore the people) with disdain does not help govt’s #IrishWater case…

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Here’s a still from the live feed from the Dail yesterday just as Fianna Fail Environment spokesman Barry Cowen called for an adjournment of the Dail until the Minister returned from briefing the press to hear what the opposition might have to say… [Decoded: the opposition sits to the right where the benches are full, and on government benches to the right there’s just three frontbenchers and the chief whip.] If you want to get straight to the action, you …

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Mary Lou’s second defenestration from the Dail in a month… What’s the problem Mary Lou?

| Readers 1956

So, ahem, Mary Lou got herself thrown out and then didn’t go? Result. That’s the end of business in the Irish parliament for the day. When’s the last time Mary Lou got herself flung out? That would be about a month ago on Tuesday 14th October. That would be the same day of Spotlight’s Cahill documentary: In case you miss it (as we may be meant to), take some time and listen to Ms Cahill’s rather combative interview on LMFM …

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Ireland’s problem is the ‘dead-ending almost all policies before they even can be implemented’

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Given the day that’s in it in Belfast, here’s a timely intervention from an Irish government backbencher on his own party’s failure to implement meaningful political reform: Fine Gael needs to commit immediately to loosening the grip that government holds on Dáil Éireann. This means, as a starting point: A declaration that the whip will only apply in stated instances and that all other votes will be free, including the order of business. Establishment of an independent Oireachtas budgetary office …

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The Oireachtas by-elections: #Seanad, #DSW, #RSL

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The end of this week sees three Oireachtas by-elections being completed, two for the Dáil seats vacated when Brian Hayes (FG) and Luke Flanagan (Ind) were elected as MEPs, and, the third a Seanad seat vacated by Deirdre Clune (FG), after she too was elected as an MEP. Given that the two Dáil seats are in constituencies that are re-drawn for the next general election, the result of the embarrassing #McNultygate Seanad by-election is likely to attract most comment. Given that there …

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