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.
THE ONLY PARTY whose members favoured a No vote, according to the RTÉ exit poll, was Fianna Fáíl.
Why is that significant? The parliamentary party itself is split on the issue, and it shows there is a gulf between the soldiers of destiny and wider public opinion.
A breakdown of the supporters of political parties and how they voted is as follows:
While Fine Gael led the way in terms of being aligned with the public vote, followed by Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil’s 50% is at total odds with the 66.4% Yes vote nationwide.
Fianna Fáil, which has spent decades in power since the foundation of the State, appears to have lost touch with the public mood.
The party pinned it’s colours to the mast on the issue of abortion last year when party members voted overwhelmingly to protect the Eighth Amendment at their Ard Fhéis.
Then there was a Citizens Assembly, the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, and it soon emerged that the party had a problem on its hands.
As the referendum campaign geared up, 31 Fianna Fáil TDs and senators gathered in Dublin’s Merrion Square holding ‘Vote No’ posters.
That’s more than half of the parliamentary party.
Those 31 politicians had an opinion different to their party leader, Micheál Martin, who came out early on in the campaign. A u-turn – he now favoured repealing the Eighth Amendment.
It has done Martin no harm though. Before yesterday’s results were revealed, there was a lot of talk about “mutterings” in the party about his leadership, with some speculating that his dissenting view was working against him.
Today, it’s clear he backed the right horse. His leadership can’t be challenged by those who did not. And those on the front and back benches will have to join him in the battle to drag their party into the 21st century.
It will be no easy task for the Cork TD. Despite deputies telling TheJournal.ie that after this week’s vote the party will come together again, that is easier said than done.
There is a bigger issue too. How did so many of them get it so wrong? Usually the party of populism, TDs who said they were against repealing the Eighth said they were doing so as they were representing the views of their constituents. From yesterday’s overwhelming Yes result in all counties, bar one, this is clearly not the case.
Standing out on its own, the party, in comparison to others, has judged the mood of the people utterly wrong.
In an interview with this website, Martin said that as a legislator, he had his own views on abortion, but his job is to represent the people that elected him, and do what is right for society. He urged his party members to do the same, but the message appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
As we approach the final Budget in the three-year deal between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, speculation will pick up about when there will be a general election.
Leo Varadkar is doing well in the polls – so some believe he would be wise to go to push the button now. Others state that this ‘Theresa May’ move will result in him being punished by the electorate.
And then there is Sinn Féin. Mary Lou’s Sinn Fein. With a leader who has just received a boost in popularity (passing out Martin and trailing slightly behind Varadkar), the party is a real threat to Fianna Fáil’s position as the main Opposition.
But can Fianna Fáil realistically knock on the doors of voters now? Eamon Ó Cúiv believes it won’t be a problem.
It doesn’t seem to affect things on the ground. There’s interesting precedent of that from the past… what happens in a referendum doesn’t seem to have any impact on general elections. If you ask me if I am quaking in my shoes that my seat’s gone then not particularly.
“The other thing is this, if you take a five-seater, I presume 30% in Galway West voted on the no side – that’s two quotas.”
Solidarity-People Before Profit’s Ruth Coppinger isn’t convinced, telling TheJournal.ie that Fianna Fáil is “living in a different timezone”.
“I think the fact that one of the biggest parties in the State has shown itself to be so removed from the population, with over half of its TDs coming out for a no vote and actually getting involved in a quite reactionary campaign – I think they have serious questions to answer. The Dail in my opinion is a bastion of conservatism in my opinion in comparison to the population, but Micheál Martin has a particular problem.”
Martin previously said that TDs that voted No would back the legislation, if it is the will of the people, and that is exactly what Fianna Fáil TDs were out saying yesterday, with the deputy leader, and No voter, Dara Calleary, saying he would vote for the legislation to proceed through the Houses.
Mary Butler, one of the strongest voices on the No side, also said she wouldn’t harm legislation or filibuster during the process.
Cork South–Central TD Michael McGrath, who also campaigned for a No vote, said he will not block the Bill on the termination of pregnancy.
“I don’t intend to oppose or block the legislation,” he said. “The people have spoken emphatically. It’s now going to have to be given effect in the Oireachtas.
“While it may not have been a vote directly on the Government’s Bill, people voted in full knowledge of what the bill contains. I think in effect it is an endorsement of the Government’s bill,” he added.
“We are seeing old Ireland shedding its skin,” Coppinger said yesterday. Whether that skin is Fianna Fáil, we’ll have to wait for the next election.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Hahaha
The IRONY
@Buster Lawless: gaslighting is too much en vogue these days.
@Buster Lawless: RTE are one of the kingpins of mis-information.
@Laois Weather: Sifting of news to undermine reputation of government is a sneaky way of influencing elections.
@thomas molloy: It would be very difficult to undermine the reputation of this government, It couldn’t be lower!
Rte need to repay a favour for all the money the government gave it to them… rte will be deciding what’s the misinformation now
@michal heba: Someone has to.
@Brendan O’Brien: Yes Brendan they do. And that person is the individual, on a case by case basis, relying on their own discernment. Not some government funded arbiter of “truth”
@Darth O’Leary: Seriously? You don’t believe the state should make any attempt to prevent the circulation of mis/disinformation, or at least identify it clearly?
That is a recipe for chaos and the end of democracy, which is exactly what extremely powerful people like Putin and Musk are working towards.
@Brendan O’Brien: We need a Journal Fact Check on how many accounts you have Factor 50. I say 5.
@IzwvqAph: lol, as they say in ‘the price is right’——- HIGHER, HIGHER…. There’s at least half dozen ‘active’ at any one time….I Love when the accounts start ‘arguing’ with themselves
@Brendan O’Brien: Are the state equipped to assume this godlike responsibility? Who would be the individual arbiters in this scenario? End of democracy? Oh please. We live in a corporatocrcy and your pretence that the government can be trusted to inform people correctly when they are beholden to these corporate vested interests and stakeholders is laughable. In fact it’s the definition of “Misinformation”
@Buster Lawless: Ticketmaster crashed this morning, but there’s not one mention of the Journal crashing yesterday when Factor 50 signed up for the Climate Change monthly newsletter for each of his accounts.
@Darth O’Leary: . Catch yourself on.
It is largely because of a vile organisation like rte that the country is in so many of the messes it is in, not having had a gen election like those held all over Europe since the pandemic and with the most out of touch ministers you could imagine. Rte are proud purveyors of misinformation.
@S Suilleabhain: This is misinformation in itself, and ‘vile’ is ridiculously over the top. Don’t you know that the normal term of a Dáil is five years?
@S Suilleabhain: fianna fail, RTE and the Catholic church. The unholy trinity.
@Michael o connor: it gave me a big smile at the end of another emotionally difficult week for me here to see Brendan attempt to engage with me.
@Brendan O’Brien: You’re not in charge of other people’s rhetoric, Brendan. He can say vile if he wants. It’s a completely subjective term anyway. If people, like you seem to want, are deciding what other people can say on the internet(we already have perfectly good laws for defamation etc.) then it’s a sad day for public discourse
@S Suilleabhain: just beware of the ‘double bluff ‘ though ….. If it comes back as d peder’ or Kevin ker you’ll know you’ve landed one. Tbh I have all those accounts MUTED so they have morphed again in recent days
@S Suilleabhain: You’re easily amused. If an interaction on a news website comments section is the bright spot of your week, you’d need to have a good think about your life.
@Buster Lawless: how many accounts do you have Buster ? I remember you incuding me in the ‘B O’ B’ accounts list once !
@offside again: this’ll sound ‘zany’ or ‘hipster’ or ‘olde skool ‘…… Couldn’t care less ….only ever had 1 phone number ,1 email address…..why would anyone need more than 1?
@Brendan O’Brien: Vile is being too kind to them.
@Darth O’Leary: . He made the point that @vike” is a ridiculously over the top comment. He is correct.
@Michael o connor: The Catholic Church is nothing to do with the Government and very little to do with RTE. That was 50 years ago when that was the case. If you mention ‘Catholic’ in either the Government or the Dáil you get silenced.
@Buster Lawless: I believe you ..
@offside again: phew….I was worried there …. Wouldn’t have slept tonight without your validation kev
Control the narrative at all costs, how diluted will democracy become. Spin, tweet, sympathize, apologize on behalf of the people for what we’ve covered up for decades and on and on. Jesus, if they put half the effort into governing we’d have a fantastic country. We need leaders and socially intelligent politicians not spoofers and s heisters with overly inflated egos, how did it come to this.
I call for an End to the TV Tax! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! And I will NOT vote for any TD that supports it!!!
Joeseph Goebbels must be turning In his grave with envy!
@Brian Hunt: be serious will ya ! No comparison at all.
Perhaps RTE, as the National Broadcaster, supported by public funds should do what it was supposed to do – that is to inform the public truthfully and open its doors to all people running in elections instead of dishing out biased information, omitting and skewing facts and preventing any opposition to the present regime, time on the radio or television. That would be just and fair in return for licence fee & taxes.
@Sheelagh Hanly: They are the quintessential lickArses when it comes to the government of the day!
@Sheelagh Hanly: documented examples of RTÉ’s bias, skewing and omitting of facts please
@lesidees: Just listen to likes of Joe Duffy
@lesidees: When was the last time you saw a debate on RTE on any important issue between the two sides – like climate change, excess deaths recorded; immigration; the two issues put to the people during the last referendum or indeed anything of interest to the citizens of our country that requires their input and concerns to be discussed.
And when they(The Government) spread mis/disinformation themselves, a la Catherine Martin in the build up to the referendum, who doubled down on her factually incorrect statement even after the Governments own Electoral Commission called her out on her out on it.. who challenges the government then.. certainly not RTE !
@Brian: Exactly
Is the difference between misinformation and disinformation, like the difference between white lies/lies of omission and just plain outright lies and untruths ?
@offside again: Russian terms. Misinformation and disinformation.
@Timo: Fake news ..
An organisation that could lay straight in the bed
@Mick O’K: dam it typos! Couldn’t
@Mick O’K: careful there Mick, you’ll have the pedantic brigade up in arms
@Buster Lawless: The they don’t need much
@Mick O’K: correcting your own disinformation is important to you it seems.
The government TV/radio station complaining about misinformation, what a laugh
Wow just wow, also, the deep fake study story is as scientifically accurate as an eye witness to an event 4 decades ago. The want deep fakes, they need them to cover their lies and deceit
Some neck RTE!!
RTE entering to political arena, calling for legislation to be changed, now that they are officially the Public Relations arm of our Govt, after their multi Million Bailout on top of their Licence Fee money & Advertising. RTE have zero credibility with the Irish public & the irony of RTE combatting Misinformation, when they Misinformed, Misled & Lied to the Irish public over salaries at RTE is sickening to people. An organisation where nobody was held accountable, no one was investigated, no one answered questions & they went out sick & walked away with mega Exit Packages, Pensions & NDA’s, now taking the high moral ground & lecturing to the Irish public, Liars & Frauds of the highest order, truly the Tass News Agency of the Irish Govt. Everyone sees through Bakhurst, RTE & this Govt.
@SV3tN8M4: Everything you have highlighted is quiet common in Irish society and in particular the Public sector.
@SV3tN8M4: ah yes but they’d be ‘respectable’ fraudsters. Good ole dee forbes got the massive lump sum and pension and not a word over it. Pile of taxpayers money wasted talking about it. 790 million bailout and no bother but if you don’t pay that TV licence you’ll see consequences. To top it off then rte is amongst the worse channels for entertainment,absolute garbage but the message is if they want to make a balls of it again and get another bailout,no bother.
RThehehehehe!
Since when have we had a ‘Department for Integration’??
@Donna Fallon: We have had a Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth since 2020.
@Donna Fallon: We’ve always had a Department of Intergration, you thought criminal!!! The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their most final command.
@Brendan O’Brien: I.e. Department of Woke
@Tom L: Department of can’t be transparent about identifying bogus claims
@Brendan O’Brien: cheers Man… I just hadn’t realised that we’d segregated a specific Department. My bad.
@Tom L: ummm okay. We should always obey our Masters…
RTE the organisation that wanted to give zero information about all the dodge going on inside its own four walls, it’s just one big joke after another in this country.
Is Dee still out on sick pay ?
@Michale Kane: I think so!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Or at least she still has a ‘sick note’!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Shock, horror, Sean defends corruption and failure as bastions of truth..
@Michale Kane: She was not the only one, latest mega Exit Package deal with Non Disclosure Agreement signed off by Bakhurst & Catherine Martin, was out as well & refused to attend PAC or answer questions. Surely RTE is the epitome of Double Standards Ireland, the honest working Taxpayer screwed to the last & the Bourgeoisie of RTE allowed to refuse to answer the questions around the Corporate Mismanagement & Misinformation around Salaries & then rewarded with mega Exit Packages, Pensions & Non Disclosure Agreements & now they embark on lecturing Govt on Legislation they want changed. The actions of a failed State, where the Elite go unpunished & impose their control over the people. Controlling the Narrative folks, that’s what’s under way in Ireland at present.
@Michale Kane: Defends???
It’s funny that RTE are crying about restrictions on democracy to Coimisiún na Meán, an organisation led by the man who did his utmost in assisting the Chinese Communist Party to crush online dissent in Hong Kong.
RTE combating misinformation.
@GERRY MURPHY:With disinformation
Lol
The trouble with RTE’s position is that a piece of alleged misinformation might be countered by apiece of real misinformation, or by some other type of misleading narrative.
All this hatred for RTÉ is so boring and only serves to deflect attention away from the real purveyors of evil in this country.
@Tasty k: who are they? Back it up with facts links you clown
Dearie me, the wingnuts are winging their nuts.
People who go on about the inherent bias in RTE News (or other ‘mainstream media) should be obliged to give a list of what they consider to be the 3 most honest and impartial news sources.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Any one bar RTE who are definitely not impartial, watch them bat for the government coming up to the election by constantly mud slinging at the opposition, people see through this now and don’t trust RTE one jot.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: No Sean, you don’t set the rules for all. Farcical Idea.. or is this just for your fanatical defence of RTE corruption.
@Michale Kane: No. It’s so I (and others) will know where to go to get honest, fair and unbiased news coverage. If I am being fed lies by BBC, RTE, Guardian or wherever, where will I find the truth?
@Michale Kane: Could you please show me ANYWHERE where I have defended corruption? Anywhere? Please search back through The Journal and quote me (‘copy and paste’ so there is NO doubt!). I want to know just where I have defended corruption? (Ignore the ‘fanatical’ for the moment. Any form of mild defence will do! Just to make it easier for you!). And I’ll wait…………
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: Seems a reasonable question for me, Sean. I’d like to know also
@Michale Kane: seems a reasonable question, no? I mean, why would you not share this info if you’re really serious about misinformation? Surely we’d all benefit from these unbiased and truthful news services?
@SYaxJ2Ts: Exactly!
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: That was just the reply I expected.
Please, please keep It!!! The moratorium is like a brief respite, a moment of silence in the clamour of election noise and an opportunity to pause for thought. Just because it doesn’t suit RTE doesn’t mean it isn’t welcome.
A very valid point. The moratorium worked in an era when most news or election coverage happened on radio and tv and was generally carried out by journalists. Now it’s a free for all where anyone with a phone is a ‘journalist’ and we are drowning in misinformation on social media. Hard to know how it would really work in practice though.
have your say