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Regional Independents Michael Lowry and Barry Heneghan Oireachtas
The Morning Lead
Dad humour, Hot to GoGo and Lowry's lads: The bits you might have missed amid the Dáil madness
It was a colourful few days in Leinster House to say the least.
WHAT CAN WE say? It was a weird week in Irish politics.
On Wednesday, plans to elect a new Taoiseach went out the window when Opposition politicians banded together in a rare act of unity and refused to accept a bid by four Independent TDs to sit in both government and opposition.
Things were looking touch and go again the following day, but against the odds a compromise was reached and the show was able to go on.
The shenanigans from both days, the subsequent election of Micheál Martin as Taoiseach and the appointment of his Cabinet have all been well documented, but here are some of the other moments from the beginning of the 34th Dáil that are worthy of a mention.
Standout speech
Sinn Féin’s Galway West TD Mairéad Farrell struck a lot of the right notes for supporters in her speech nominating Mary Lou McDonald as Taoiseach on Thursday morning.
The nomination itself was nothing more than playacting given that Sinn Féin didn’t have the numbers, but despite that, Farrell used it as an opportunity to remind the incoming government who Sinn Féin will be fighting for.
“The nearly 9,000 people who have been on hospital trolleys in this year alone, the mother who has been turned down for carer’s allowance because she is €2 over the limit and the couple in their 30s who want to save for a mortgage but whose extortionate rent means that they cannot save for a deposit. These are the people we stand for. These are the people we represent,” Farrell told the Dáil.
Honourable mention too for People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett who railed eloquently against the fact the Dáil will not sit again for almost two weeks.
“Do those making the proposal think that children living in emergency accommodation are going to get two weeks’ respite from the hardship and suffering they are enduring?” the Dún Laoghaire TD asked.
“It is an insult for this government to start off with another two-week break when we should be meeting to discuss the crisis of housing and homelessness that is blighting the lives of tens of thousands of people in this country,” he concluded.
New Energy
A nod to newly elected Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan who, alongside his colleague Catherine Ardagh, had the nerve-wracking task of nominating their party leader Micheál Martin to be Taoiseach.
Attempt number one on Wednesday afternoon was, well, a disaster.
Dolan took to his feet and began his speech but was drowned out by shouts from members of the Opposition who weren’t happy with the Ceann Comhairle allowing the nomination process to proceed when the row over speaking rights hadn’t been resolved.
The second attempt on Thursday morning went much smoother.
“As I was saying yesterday,” the Galway East TD began.
His sense of humour and the passionate delivery of his speech earned the 26-year old rapturous applause from his party colleagues and a nod of approval from Fine Gael leader Simon Harris.
Harris himself nominated Enda Kenny for the role back when he was the youngest serving TD in his party in 2011, so he knew the shtick. Might Dolan one day follow a similar trajectory to that of Harris?
Two other first-time TDs also stand out as ones to watch this term: Labour’s Dublin South West TD Ciarán Ahern and Donegal’s 100% Redress TD Charles Ward, who both looked more than comfortable delivering their first speeches in the Dáil.
Ivana Bacik had her Weetabix
Three of the most memorable quotes from Thursday go to Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who most definitely had her Weetabix that morning.
First, she hit out at the government for its commitments to addressing climate change, arguing that it is set to favour the building of roads over investment in public transport.
“As Trump might say, ‘Roads, baby, roads.’ That is what we are going to see from this Government,” she said.
Micheal Healy Rae was quick to interject: “What’s wrong with a few roads?”
Next, she rounded on the Regional Independents, coining the phrase ‘Lowry’s lads’, as she made the point that the public does not know what constituency deals were done with the group of Independents headed up by TD Michael Lowry.
Later in the day, Bacik struck again.
Criticising Micheál Martin’s decision to appoint just three women to his 15-member Cabinet, the Labour leader told the Dáil: “There are as many women as there are men called James in the new Cabinet.”
“The documents”
Another explosive moment came on Thursday morning when Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty took an opportunity to criticise Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for welcoming Michael Lowry into “the bosom of government”.
“Let me put some new information on the house,” Doherty said before using his standing time in the Dáil to speak about the Independent Tipperary TD.
You can read what was said in our report here.
Finally, Chappell Roan has been mentioned in the Dáil
And last but not least, Paul Gogarty.
The man who gave us “Fuck you Deputy Stagg”, is back in the Dáil and is making himself known to the next generation.
Gogarty, a former Green TD who lost his seat in 2011, is already doing numbers over on TikTok for his contribution in the Dáil on Thursday, when he drew on lyrics from pop sensation Chappell Roan to criticise the government.
Referring to the programme for government, Gogarty said: “This is no Seamus Heaney moment where ‘hope and history rhyme’.”
Instead, he said what came to mind when he thinks of what things will be like in five years under this government were lyrics from Chappell Roan: “When you think about me, all of those years ago, you’re standing face to face with I told you so”.
Gogarty even incorporated the song’s title when wishing the new government well: “Good luck, colleagues!”
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