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DÁIL OPPOSITION PARTIES showed rare unity this week with the speaking rights row, but it doesn’t look like there will be a repeat of it anytime soon.
It was an unusual sight on the plinth on Wednesday night.
The party leaders of the Opposition walked out the main doors of Leinster House, side-by-side, making their way over to the media to speak about their common cause.
Earlier in the day, all hell had broken out in the Dáil over the issue of speaking rights, with concerns raised about those in the Regional Independent group, who were part of government formation talks, getting speaking time that belonged to the Opposition.
It’s a rarity to see all of the parties singing of the same hymn sheet. But for a long time now, there have been calls for there to be more of a united front from the Opposition benches.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy called for a “united left alliance” before the election, stating it could potentially remove Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil from office.
He said cooperation among the left parties on the Opposition benches should be a more formal arrangement.
After taking the final seat in the Dublin constituency in the European elections, Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin made similar calls, stating that it was time for Labour and the Social Democrats to “join forces” and “stop pretending that there’s any difference” between them.
None of this came to fruition for the general election campaign. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael came out as the majority in forming a government.
However, Wednesday’s spectacle showed that unity among the Left (and even throwing Independent Ireland into the mix) can work, if the stakes are high.
During the mayhem in the Dáil, in between all the suspensions of the House, party leaders and party whips were huddled together in groups, strategising their next move.
It was an unusual sight.
Instead of fighting between each other, they were working together against the government bloc. Something many have said for years they should be doing at election time.
The events clearly bother the Fianna Fáil leader. Micheál Martin accused Sinn Féin of orchestrating and co-ordinating a “subversion of the Irish Constitution”. However, it was pointed out to him that it was actually the entire Opposition that worked together in unison on the issue.
So could it be repeated over the next Dáil term?
Those The Journal spoke to on the Opposition benches gave the impression that Wednesday was more of a ‘flash in the pan’ kind of event, rather than something the public will be seeing more of.
While that doesn’t appear to be a particularly smart move, it would appear that there is still too much disparity between each party for them to join together on the big ticket items that will come down the line in the next five years.
One Sinn Féin TD said how much time the Opposition gets to speak in the Dáil is an issue that all the parties can get behind, as it is in all of their interests to hold on to the those precious air-time minutes.
However, when it comes to policy matters, each has their own principles and ideals.
A TD in another Opposition party said there is often cooperation between groups at the Dáil Business Committee on matters, but said it had to be acknowledged that there are significant differences among the parties on a range of issues.
While they said on the issue of the Occupied Territories Bill there appears to be cross-party support, they added that they didn’t think the events on Wednesday was a sign of things to come, stating that they didn’t see ongoing cooperation across a number of issues happening.
This TD was also of the view that there was a narrative being spun about a united left, stating that there’s a deliberate strategy by some parties in Opposition who are trying to position themselves as “leaders of the Opposition”, which they said is not something that everyone is going buy into.
There has been some chatter that one area that the left might be able to get it together on is with this year’s presidential election.
There has been talk that left-leaning parties might work together to pick one candidate, that would palatable to all, and who they could all get behind.
It is understood that political parties have had initial conversations about candidate selection, but that it is very early days. There are already lots of names in the mix.
But, given that it appears a show of unity might be a once-in-a-Dáil-term event, it would seem getting everyone to rally behind one presidential candidate might be an uphill battle.
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The government have awakened something here with trying to fiddle speaking time and making lowery the dail kingmaker…..
IT’s classic arrogance from people too long in power …with a weak Ceann a disappointed backbench and some pathetic independents I can’t see this going the distance…
@David Cotter: it wasn’t so much FFG, the problem was with the RIG, people mightn’t like Lowry but he was elected by the people . The shinners still bring in Jarry Adams when they have a bit of negotiating to do and he is retired with multiple pensions.
@David Cotter: Left Wing ideology is so senseless and eighteenth century ore democracy that it is understandable that none of the misshaped pieces fit together. It ignores and rejects every aspect of healthy human nature punishing healthy wholesome behaviour and pandering to idleness.
@Liam23: Liam, FFG were quite happy to let the tail wag the dog. They should have stood up for our democracy. Instead they were willing to allow Lowry’s lot ride roughshod over it. And they then had the audacity to point the finger at the opposition! Please!! Ps it’s Gerry.
@thomas molloy: Left wing ideology is 18th century. That came from France when the Royalists sat to the right and the Republicans sat to the left of the President after the French Revolution.
In trying to show how smart you are you instead showed how you misinterpret information. Either on purpose or simple because you do not understand it!
@Harry Paisley: Why would people pay into the Gaiety to watch a pantomime, when we have a free show in Leinster House every day!
@Gary Kearney: Interesting. language changes meaning. There’s a contemporary American version of “left” that seems to mean the ultra progressive or woke or some shit. The term has lost all meaning beyond predefined examples like your own. I totally agree that it’s a long outdated paradigm. It’s the top down technocratic control of the elite that we should be worried about in this age, imo
@thomas molloy: No it does not and that idleness line is straight out of the 18th centaury.
Left Wing ideology is a very broad church. Social Democracy and Democratic Socialism are part of it and they do not pander to idleness.
They do help people who need help.
Like the older people and the disabled community.
Election after election nothing changes. No new ideas, same old, same old.
No grand plan, where are we going as a nation? What is it are we trying to achieve?
We are free to be any interpretation of self we want to be and you’re telling me that this is the best we can come up with.
There any number of issues in society that need resolving, any number of things we could be setting our minds and efforts to but apparently this is the best we can do.
It’s almost like the country and the people are being held back on purpose. It’s like the government are waiting on something or someone to show them.
Could of had the whole world at your table but those in the know chose to waste that opportunity. It’s a pity really. Could have been something beautiful, magical almost but the moment has passed.
@Séamas Mac Cárthaigh: as a nation we don’t do forward planning, we prefer to get a fiver in a budget rather than look to the future and what the country could become.
@Séamas Mac Cárthaigh: some lofty rhetoric but no actual ideas presented there yourself?
What would you like to see being done (instead of becoming one of the wealthiest countries in the world)?
See telegram for Harry’s sorry Dave’s info..
@David Cotter: cool. What keyword to search on him? Going to seriously get it through to the journal staff, he can’t be allowed to continue to deteriorate this section.
The Dublin Government 2025 also known as’ Michael Lowry and his Coalition of Chancers.’
@Tristan Ua Ceithearnaigh: Better than the Slab Murphy and Northern Bank crowd
How is McEntee still there? Or the one with the mad fringe.
@Dan Murphy: it’s a learning process like an apprenticeship in there, except you take a position of high importance on high salary with no accountability never changes
@Paddy C: Straight from TCD’s buttery into high office, it doesn’t augur well!
Harry muted. What a waste of hot air. As useful as Anne Frank’s drum kit.
@Gerry Smith: MUTE & REPORT PETER MORRIS also… same troller.
@Gerry Smith: Making jokes about Anne Franks drum kit during the week of remembrance for the Holocaust is in very bad taste!
It’s much more difficult to get left parties to agree as their views can range from absurdly wild to the extreme so the level headed ones who can negotiate and see sense get lost in it all and suffer the most where as right parties come from money and power so can naturally agree on alot of common ground quite easy actually. The left attempting to unite in this country would give FFG a major scare, though it would have to be shown over a number of years to truly be effective and not just a one off day here and there.
@Dan The Man: It would be nice to have a left, but we really haven’t had one for 50 years. Labour and SDs are centre left, SF claim to left and some policies support that, the more ” extreme left ” PBP etc, keep with policies that are completely nonsense and would drag us backwards.
We need fairness in our society and help those who truly need it but that’s where things go silly, non collection of social housing rent, lifetime sw payments for able people, equality, not a fan myself, and whatever your having. The taxpayer burden is too high too.
Left policies are about fairness not pandering to one offs, the government needs to rectify the waste of money and then use it for genuine reasons. Do that and things might improve
@Dan The Man: Left Wing ideology is beautiful poetry that seduces people but is a social tragedy in practice. Thankfully most people grow out of it and you can see it on the face even though their mouths keep chanting the mantras.
@thomas molloy: would be nice to have a real center right block, lowering taxes and reducing government intervention into ppls like and reducing government spending
@thomas molloy: Idiotic post, from a poster who is generally OK. I once got drunk with Billy Bragg and we had a discussion about philosophy, best type of discussion when getting drunk. Billy at the time was gaining some credit for his music and was making good money. I was an aspiring Gordon Gekko .
I asked Billy about his fame and good fortune and it didn’t seem to tie up with his music nor his political views. He said ” it’s fine to earn and be wealthy or well off , but what you do with that money is the important bit, helping those or causes that need genuine help, is noble and it enriches you and the person you help” .
Warren Buffet lives in the same house he bought in the 50s the majority of his wealth has been given and earmarked for charities across America and the world.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Capitalism is fine, but it’s difficult to achieve without the help of others and those others are employees, customers etc. Right now 99% of global ” wealth” is held by a few dozen people and families who do help the needy but on their terms. Society will only trive when people trive , greed isn’t good. Everyone has a right to work, gain financially, take care of family, and pass down some of the leftover assets etc, but mankind is shackled with the divide and it won’t improve mankind one jot.
I’m saying this as someone is probably rich in some people’s view, own our home, money in bank pensions, etc but that doesn’t and hasn’t stopped us from helping others . Money has no value if it makes you miserable. And deep down we all have compassion.
@Paul O’Mahoney: True Money isn’t important in itself it’s caring for people with it that respects it. I have run businesses at a loss to keep people in employment until I could find someone to take it over and preserve people’s jobs.
@thomas molloy: Apologies for the opening remark.
@thomas molloy: Altruism, but you shouldn’t have had to run a business at a loss either. Most would, and I know this, simply lay off the workers and let them get the dole and take them back for cash, probably not full hrs but you understand.
Socialism isn’t something that I like very much for the reasons you mentioned but if the philosophy of business was to treat workers fairly , housing people to , make it like a business, not rent no home etc. Fairness doesn’t have wings, neither does Altruism. Business of the past built housing for employees, the Quakers huge businesses globally treated employees with respect and dignity and profit shared.
This is not new , it worked then why not now? I a word greed.
@John Purcell: You have a right of center party in government.
@Paul O’Mahoney: why, I’m entitled to an opinion. I’m just not a fan of more government interference in every part of my life.
I think I pay too much tax and get very little for it.
It think the social welfare system is too generous and encourages ppl not to work and to game the system.
Nothing extreme in this.
@Gary Kearney: we do not.
We have a center left gov in charge at the moment. Look at the size of the state in terms of spending and spending commitments it’s farcical and we will all be caught out once the FDI investment stops .
It’s looks right in terms of when viewed with some of the extreme socialist ideas from the left.
What if any thing did thy last government do that would be considered “right wing”? I mean that as a honest question.
@John Purcell: I never engaged with you however I agree with your views, and yes the burden of tax is too high on everyone who pays it. Society and politics need to come up with a different way as the one we have is broken. And I fill my days now gardening and writing to TDs , only joy is gardening.
We are moving back down the country and the level of dereliction is shameful but nothing will be done. Kinvara nice spot but new houses 4000sq feet with cottages rotting into the ground in neighbouring towns and villages.
Western economies are up side down.
@Paul O’Mahoney: my apologies I seen “idiotic post” and thought you were referring to me.
@Dan The Man:
Leaders of the “left” parties are all kids of the elite, Private schooling and 3rd level shoo ins.
@H Woo: Wow that’s your contribution to a serious debate. It’s so infantile it warrants a negative response.
The problem with our opposition or most of it is that it’s perfectly happy to be the opposition
They have no real interest in the responsibility that comes with assuming office, and they continue to espouse an economic system that quickly leads to chaos and bankruptcy
Thus, we sail onwards with the serious issues which face the country largely ignored or untouched
And all the while people’s faith in real meaningful democracy is dwindling away
@Gerry Kelly: “espouse an economic system that leads to chaos and bankruptcy ” .. thats a tad hyperbolic and non descript isn’t it.. ? I’m pretty sure I saw rethoric like that during the election campaign from the same party’s that had bigger ‘ black holes ‘ in their proposed budgetary figures than the “opposition” (Fiscal Advisory Council) The problem is people forget who actually did bankrupt the country, so on we sail with the same party’s being elected again and again, despite their abject failure in the major departments in this country.
@Brian: Full employment and half the world craving to get to Ireland to live proves that knocking those who managed the country is groundless politically motivated criticism.
@thomas molloy: Here’s Irish Times Tommy now.. I deal in facts Tommy lad, not hyperbole.. ” half the world ” indeed. No mention of the fact that highest amount of people emigrated from the country, in 10 years, last year. No mention of the fact the abject government I speak of missed their housing targets, again, by 10,000.. despite having record surpluses.. No mention of the dysfunctional health system that still awaits the delivery of the world’s most expensive hospital, and the government, whom by their own admission, are being held to ransom by the contractors but still continues to award them contracts. Your daily drivel is always devoid of facts.. but BS is always impossible to substantiate. Any more quotes from The Irish Times for us Mr Anti MSM ?
@Gerry Kelly: meanwhile our navy is out on patrol with no working guns on board ,let that sink in ,this government is a bunch of spoofers
Alternate headline: cats successfully herded for a brief moment…
This is natural and good news for the people who depend on a functioning economy. Left Wing ideology is so senseless and eighteenth century ore democracy that it is understandable that none of the misshaped pieces fit together. It ignores and rejects every aspect of healthy human nature punishing healthy wholesome behaviour and pandering to idleness.
@thomas molloy: It does all those things and more, unfortunately, but if there was fairness in economics, finance and society, that has surrounded us from 1900 until now would there be a need for it. Marx himself admitted that he wanted money to feed his family and educate his children better than his education and treat his wife occasionally. It’s a simple requirement.
In 1955, a mere 10 years after WW2 Buckminster Fuller wrote a report that showed that in 1955, there was enough food to feed the entire population. That report never saw the light of day, and allegedly the algorithms created never seen, until about 1964 where they were called ” Moores law” …..
Mankind has the resources to solve any problem it has, if that happened all isms would disappear.
@Paul O’Mahoney: you say in your comment what Marx wanted, to feed and educate his family and treat his wife once in a while. This is all that the majority of us wish for, but this is not possible for a lot of people in Ireland today. Everything costs so much now in Ireland, we are being ripped of left ,right and centre for everything. And before we have the usual suspects coming back at me with the usual bullscutter comments, ” get a better job”, “educate and upskill “, we should not have to be on a brain surgeon’s salary to have this dream, what might not seem like much of a dream to a lot of people, but for the majority of us hard working families in Ireland, this is all we want, a house, food and to be able to educate our children. This is impossible now I Ireland unless you are rich. Please, please don’t come back with the usual comments.
Also lots of good people grew up in council estates, which their parents paid and bought their house’s and then moved on or not, but didn’t depend on social welfare and were hard working. Nowadays there are no council estates like this being built for low income WORKING families who would appreciate the help and pay for their own house.
@den: Absolutely agree, and you’re speaking for the majority. There’s no way the present system will do what you describe, why greed. People should be able to earn 100k two salaries if necessary and not be poorer ,both in money but also time. Childcare nonsense, our health insurance is over 10k for 4 ,mine 4k I said to my wife I’ll come off it, she went nuts, I had cancer…..but ” you have to have it” we spend 25bn in health and you need health insurance. Same with everything.
My pension taxed for what ?
Drives me nuts
@den: As well as the ideas of Marx being worth at least looking Darwin’s observations can be considered relative to contemporary society. Applying plausible ideas to a creature with free will and cunning throws up challenges. In nature to succeed it takes a pair of birds to build a nest to keep offspring. eg Nowadays it takes a man and woman both with decent jobs to prepare buy a house to look after children. The unfittest can have many children while diligent working couples can only afford one child. The welfare state has intervened with unintended consequences.
@thomas molloy: And that’s an excellent observation, we have dismissed the 2 parent idea, and whilst I’m comfortable with anyone living their lives as they see fit. But the other side of that is questions like ” is marriage the end all and be all” etc etc.
And nobody should have to do what is expected and this causes all sorts of f dat f dis . Mankind should get out of its own way and let be , but we can’t as we would then be truly outside the box.
I don’t believe in equity either, as if we were all equal we’d still be in caves, cold, in the dark and inventing square wheels , innovation is key for us, but that innovation has been hijacked by greed and profit.
We are better than this.
If those on the left leave aside their egos the could become a force to be reckoned with and represent the people who need to be taken care of not just those with money
Has anyone wondered what happened to the legal advice? The RIG either has rights to speak or not. The constitution is mute on that and there was no threat to democracy either way, which was a false contention. It’s down to standing orders. So rather than being a reliable law abiding house which respects the election results and the Ceann comhairla,, the Dail has ceded to mob rule. It’s a total disgrace to the nation. If all the opposition can agree on is disregard for the rule of law then we are definitely better off without any of them getting into power.
@Pat O Neill: Frankly, it’s nothing to be honest, and speaking rights of 5 mins over a 5 year tenure should be the least of their problems. Theatre.
We need to get on with stuff and get to where this country should be, the election is over, but we can still make sure the feel our eyes at the back of their heads …..
They would fight with their own shadows. Very childish bunch!!
@chris gaffney: The Marxists tunnel vision journey is leading these misled utopian(with other peoples money) people into sad denial.
@thomas molloy:
They are from the money classes and can afford to continue with their immature student union fun.
There is always a certain amount of cross party cooperation but not to the degree to make their party look weak in the public eye.
I saw a bill being proposed and all the opposition parties spoke in favour of it and the government did not contest it,
It does happen but it is rare.
In this particular case, it is the civil servants in three departments are blocking it as only they can!
There is one thing a cartoon socialist hates more then a free market Democrat and that’s another cartoon socialist.
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