Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
WE WERE SUPPOSED to elect a new Taoiseach today but instead Dáil Éireann descended into complete and utter chaos.
Proceedings to elect a new Taoiseach and government were abandoned this afternoon after the row over speaking rights for the government-supporting Independent TDs escalated further and ultimately came to a stalemate.
The plan is that the Dáil will reconvene at 9am tomorrow and try again to elect the next Taoiseach.
If you are only tuning in now, here’s how today went in Leinster House.
Background:
Before getting into today, a reminder of where things stood on the row this morning.
In short: The Independent TDs who participated in government formation negotiations, but who have not been given junior ministerial positions, want to continue to sit as a technical group in the Dáil and be allowed some of the speaking time that is allocated to the Opposition.
These four TDs are Michael Lowry, Barry Heneghan, Gillian Toole and Danny Healy-Rae.
Fundamentally, the row (which began last week) is over the interpretation of Dáil standing orders, these are basically the rules that govern how the Dáil operates. The Ceann Comhairle is responsible for enforcing the standing orders.
Almost all of the Opposition TDs in the Dáil are on one side of the issue, while the Regional Independents Group, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are on the other.
The issue was kicked up to the Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy to interpret the standing orders. Yesterday, she decided that the four TDs would be able to sit in the technical group on an interim basis until she made a final decision.
Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, Independent Ireland and People Before Profit all said that the situation is absurd and argued that these Independents are not part of the Opposition and therefore should not be given some of the Opposition’s speaking time.
The Dáil suspended – twice
That brings us to today.
This morning, the Dáil returned at 11am and Opposition TDs immediately made their disquiet clear.
Much shouting ensued – read all about that here – and the Dáil was suspended by the Ceann Comhairle for 15 minutes.
Upon its return, the shouting continued. The Dáil was back for less than two minutes and had to be suspended again.
After about an hour, the Dáil returned and government chief whip Hildegarde Naughton requested another recess of 45 minutes to allow party representatives to meet and then consult with their own parties afterwards.
This was agreed, but after the meeting there was no resolution – “absolute stalemate”.
At this stage, government sources were still hopeful that the situation would be resolved today.
During this recess Michael Lowry took to the plinth to update the media.
He said most parties and independents have agreed that the speaking rights issue should be referred to the Reform Committee tomorrow, in a bid to get back on track today and elect a Taoiseach.
Shortly after this there was another update – Aontú (who were in the Regional Group but not supporting government) had left the technical group.
Aontú leader Peadar Toibín said he did so in the hope of breaking the “impasse”.
However, the two other non-government supporting Independents TDs in the group, Mattie McGrath and Carol Nolan, were still in the group.
The Dáil then returned just after 4pm and the understanding was that a compromise had been reached by all parties.
However, when Naughton stood up in the Dáil outlining this and the Ceann Comhairle then attempted to begin the process of the vote on Taoiseach, Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn interjected to say nothing had been agreed.
*At this point, the press did not have clarity on what had been agreed or not – this would only become clear when both sides set out their positions later in the evening in separate press conferences.
Shouting ensued again and opposition TDs began to get to their feet.
TDs from the Labour Party began to make for the doors, but before a walk out could happen the Ceann Comhairle adjourned the Dáil for the day.
That was it – there would be no new Taoiseach today.
Shortly afterwards, Micheál Martin, Simon Harris, Hildegarde Naughten and Cormac Devlin spoke to the press outside Government Buildings.
Harris dubbed what happened “stunt politics on speed”, while Martin said what happened today was a “subversion of the Irish constitution”.
Naughton said her understanding was that an agreement was made between all parties before the Dáil reconvened at four.
“We shook hands on it,” she told the press.
About an hour later, Mary Lou McDonald and the other Opposition leaders spoke to the media on the plinth.
Their position was clear: They are united as one and are leaving the ball in the government’s court.
Tonight they will write to the leaders of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael along with the Ceann Comhairle to request a meeting.
But what about the hand shaking? Was there no agreement in the earlier meeting?
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn came forward to the mic and said again that no agreement had been reached and that members of the Opposition shook hands with the Clerk of the Dáil Peter Finnegan and thanked him for trying to facilitate an agreement.
People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett said: “At the very same time we were shaking hands with Peter Finnegan we were stating that there wasn’t an agreement”.
Both sides to the disagreement are accusing the other of acting in bad faith.
The Opposition say they will raise the same issues tomorrow if they do not receive clarity from government tonight.
For now, it looks as though tomorrow may be just as unproductive as today, unless there is a deal of some sort struck tonight.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Aldi is showing the way forward. Lidl as well.
Was in Dunnes in Swords this morning! The special offers are few and far between! Prices are definitely creeping up again! And to top it all off, there’s hardly anyone working in it! Can’t wait for the new Lidl store to open!
It’s not surprising, a couple of years ago I was getting a decent weekly shop for €30-€40 now I am paying more like €60 a week. I like to shop around to ensure that Irish businesses get my money but I am beginning to think I should just stick with Lidl or Aldi.
Lisa, if you want to help the economy you should shop for the best deal for you and your family. Ths will force reailers to try and attract your business by reducing prices and maintaining or improving quality.
Lower prices will enable consumers to spread their into other sectors.
Ben while that is true, Tesco is known for forcing farmers to sell their produce at a crazy low price.
While one could suggest why don’t they sell to the highest bidder. Tesco et al dictate price and if the farmer doesn’t sell at the price they have no one else to buy it.
How can a farmer make a profit on the likes of lettuce when it’s being sold for 25cent.
JFK said that Farming was the only industry where people have to buy supplies at consumer prices and sell the finished goods at wholesale prices.
Iceland food store is brilliantly fair cheap on everything.. Lidl is very reasonable too.. When it comes to loyalty I’m sorry but I can only afford the cheapest with all these damn taxes
A few years ago it was almost shameful to be shopping in lidldi now it’s cool to do so!
In Holland, you see Doctor’s stepping out of Lidl in to their Mercs. People off all classes shop there. Here there was the new money snobbery, there they just viewed it as getting food at a reasonable price. A smart thing to do. There is an awful lot of people here who regret the keeping up appearances bolloxology now.
I would say thought that people should try to buy Irish if at all possible, the profits stay here, and they come back to you in wages, services jobs etc. A Euro spent on local produce is worth 2 to the economy.
Excellent point Fagan. I lived in Aus for a year and they really pushed buying Aussie goods.
We should try do the same.
Eddie Hobbs has us all believing everything Irish is a rip off. Having been to Aus and Finland among other countries I can honestly say Ireland Is not a rip off.
It will never be cool.
Agreed a few years ago there were so many people going around as though their $h1t did not stink and would not be seen near a lidl or aldi store, now times are different and reality bites, these large stores do offer good value but not on everything, people should learn to mix n match between local stores and the big multiples and spread their spend around, here in mainland europe small food retailers work alongside larger multiples and offer good value service & quality produce its a win win in relation to the customer, back to basics is the way forward
Try to shop local as much as I can, hate to see so much money leaving the country especially making the German economy stronger and ours getting weaker by the day, just my point of view
I agree. I try and shop in Dunnes as much as possible and I like the fact Dunnes tell you how many Irish goods you buy on their receipt.
where I live there is a Lidl, Supervalu, Tesco, Dunnes, Iceland & Aldi prob inside a square mile. Out of all of them it is Aldi for me. One of the reasons I shop in Aldi is the amount of Irish food, all most all their meat is from quality assured Irish farms, the crisp isle is mostly all Snackrite, which is made by Largo food (Tayto). loads of bread there is Irish, and actually nice unlike Lidl bread (not taking about their bakery) Heaps of Taste awards, and Blas na Eireann awards. really good quality Irish foods at great prices, specially selected sausages taste like superquinn ones. The say they try to stock as much Irish fruit n veg as they can, milk cheese yogurt eggs all Irish the mark all their Irish products with the tri-colour so its very easy to do a completely Irish shop. (I don’t work for Aldi :) )
The decline is due to the increase in cost.
Guys and girls. Prices are going to rise a lot more .
Oil is up. Our food is grown in petro chemicals ,transported in trucks and wrapped in plastics .
On top of that there is increased demand for food worldwide.
Tesco et al will not be able to hide price increases for too long and I have to agree with the above comments. I think the special offers are getting scarce. Especially for actual items you would use.
Not to sound like a broken record here but banks and hedgefunds have a huge part to blame in rising food prices. Morally and ethically wrong to be speculating on food prices but hey whats new.
It’s very morally wrong.
I work in a small fruit and veg shop…probably the only one around for miles because most have closed their doors, each morning we’re at the market, buying the freshest produce so customers are guaranteed high quality food, when in season, we get loads of produce from local growers. The big supermarkets have a few items cheaper, but on the whole, I’d say we’re cheaper in the long run. And everything is totally fresh, unlike supermarket stuff which is in cold storage for weeks. Support your locality, best for everyone.
My husband was made redundant from a wonderful supplier in fruit markets dublin, it was so sad to see a family business close after 60 odd years:-( i hope your fruit and veg shop sees the tough times through! :-)
One would not wonder why people are staying away they are going the same way as the publicans for years when trade fell back they increased their prices to make up for the loss of trade , now I have noticed the supermarkets are increasing prices, a rise of about 16 percent on a lot of items over the last 6 months, I for one leave it on the shelf and when it does not sell it is reduced for a few days to try and get rid of old stock, then is the time to buy, they should know that the customers are on a tight budget this day and age. as we are been robbed left right and centre by the government of the day.
have your say