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GE2024New Kids on the BlockFIANNA FÁIL AND Fine Gael, along with Sinn Féin, are due to each hold a meeting of their parliamentary parties today to figure out their next steps when it comes to forming the next government.
The newly elected ‘new kids on the block’ of each party, along with the old guard, will be be in attendance at the meetings in Leinster House.
It comes as government formation talks kick up a gear, with Labour, the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin all agreeing to hold meetings with each other this week.
Today’s parliamentary party meetings will be a chance for the leaders to listen to party members about what direction and strategy should be followed in the weeks ahead as talks get underway.
Another Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil-led coalition is on the cards, due to Fianna Fáil securing the largest number of seats of any party in this election, at 48.
Sinn Féin is the second largest on 39 seats, but Micheál Martin has said he won’t go into coalition with them.
The Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has indicated her preference is to lead a left-wing alliance, however, so far, none of the parties have indicated any receptiveness to such an idea.
Fine Gael are the next largest parliamentary party with 38 seats, meaning there’s a ten seat gap between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Despite this, Fine Gael is understood to want ‘parity of esteem’ with Fianna Fáil, something that will have to be hammered out in the weeks ahead.
Since the election count concluded, much of the speculation has centred around whether Labour, who were seen as the preferred option for FF/FG, would be interested into going back into government.
However, on Monday, the party indicated that it would not go solo into a government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and would instead require another left-leaning group to join them, with the obvious option being the Social Democrats.
The Soc Dems have held their cards close to their chests on the matter. It is understood that the feeling within the party is that it should build on its positive performance in the election from the opposition benches rather than run the risk of total annihilation, as has been seen with the Greens.
Labour and the Soc Dems fear getting monstered by going in with the two larger parties, with the experience of the Greens making them all the more wary.
So where does that leave us?
There is increasing talk that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael might opt to increase their majority by tacking on a few Independents.
Who is interested? Well, a question mark hangs over whether the Independent Alliance band is getting back together.
The group was in power with the Fine Gael-led government in 2016, but some of its members have been re-elected to the 34th Dáil, with Galway East TD Sean Canney and the Longford–Westmeath TD Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran headed back to Leinster House.
The third addition to the ‘band’, is Barry Heneghan, who, at 26, is one of the youngest TDs to be elected to the 34th Dáil.
The Dublin Bay North TD is a protégé of Finian McGrath, former Independent TD for the same constituency and junior minister for disability in the 2016-2020 government of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance.
McGrath told The Journal that he believes the next government will be made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and a handful of Independent candidates. Heneghan’s take? He will take some time to discuss with the “kitchen cabinet” first.
The Journal understands that Heneghan already has his wish-list for whenever he gets the call for government formation talks.
Canney indicated this week that he is open to supporting the next government, stating that he awaits the call.
Canney was a junior minister in his last stint in government, and before the ‘rotating Taoiseach’ idea was a thing, he was in a rotating junior ministry with ‘Boxer’ Moran.
“We were the original of the species, except we didn’t write it down properly,” he joked, referring to a time in 2018 when a dispute arose between the two TDs over whether or not the role would revert back to Canney.
The two men had agreed to rotate the role of Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW and Flood Relief when the current government was formed. Canney began in the role, with Moran taking over in May 2017. In the end, Moran held on to the ministry until the end of that government.
Canney tells The Journal that he takes issue with commentary that having Independents makes for an unstable government, stating that when the Independent Alliance was in government, there was cohesion.
“That was a stable government for four years. And the reason why the Dáil was dissolved at the time was on the basis that you had a vote of no confidence in the then Minister Simon Harris. Rather than have that vote of no confidence, the Taoiseach decided to go to the country at that time. It wasn’t Independents that created the instability,” he said.
When asked if an Independent Alliance 2.0 could be on the cards, Canney said it doesn’t necessarily need to be a second independent Alliance, but it could be a gathering of people like the Independent technical group and regional group.
Canney said Indendents who have been sitting on the opposition benches have been “very coheisve over the last five years” and had “a lot of common ground”.
“But what happens is when you go in and you negotiate a programme for government, then you are accepting everything in that programme for government, not just your parts, all of it. There might be things in that programme for government that you mightn’t agree with, but at the end of the day, if you’re getting some of the things done that you feel are needed in the country, that’s what you’re there to do, and you’re trying to get things done,” he said.
So if he were to support a Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael government, would he have a wish list of things for Galway? Canney said there are regional infrastructure issues that need to be tackled, like solving Galway traffic and the western rail corridor, but he added:
There is a myth out there that Independents have parish pump politics. That’s not true. My biggest issue would be: how can we accelerate the building of houses.
Coming from a construction background he said there is a plethora of paperwork “strangling the whole system for the sake of accountability and cost benefit”.
When asked if the larger parties keep to their word and Independents can deliver in government, Canney said:
“I would say yes. When you agree, you can deliver. And if you have a focus on it, you can deliver. Absolutely.”
Wexford’s Verona Murphy is also considered one of the “like-minded” TDs that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael might approach to support their government.
She also argues against the instability narrative regarding independents, attributing it to a campaign of “fear-mongering” during the campaign to prevent them being seen as a viable addition to government.
She told RTÉ’s Prime Time that she’s been “on the phone for hours and hours” over the last few days. She wouldn’t confirm whether she spoke to anyone in Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
Murphy was part of the Regional Indpendents Group in the last Dáil. She said the “four remaining members” – herself, Seán Canney, Noel Grealish and Michael Lowry – “and some others” are having talks.
She told The Journal: “My slogan is, I represent people, not parties. I intend to continue doing that. I can do that whilst in government, supporting government, or being a strong opposition.”
“My attitude and that of any elected representative, it’s incumbent on you being elected, particularly with the massive mandate that I have received, to absolutely try and get into government and to try and make a difference.
“I’m not going in at any cost. I’m not going in to be a minister, because it’s not about me. I’m going in if it makes a difference to the problems that are on the ground and if there’s going to be a common sense approach,” she said.
Murphy would be of the Fine Gael gene pool having been dropped from the Wexford Fine Gael general election ticket in 2019 after a controversial by-election campaign which saw her come in for sustained criticism for her comments about migrants.
So is there any bad blood with Fine Gael and could she do business with them?
“I don’t believe so. Not at all, not at all, that’s politics, you deal, I deal. And that’s it. Everything has to work. And I certainly never hold a grudge, never have, never will, it’s not how I deal.”
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2 years ago when I was home from Australia Ryanair had been successful in driving Aer Arann and Aer Lingus out of the Dublin – Kerry route .. Ended up having to drive due to the lack of service. They obviously didn’t make money out of this as Aer Arann are back on the route. I’m only one customer on one day of the year. It’s frightening to think the cost and inconvenience any takeover would have on everyone.
in many cases where you don’t book months in advance Ryanair are more expensive that Aer Lingus on like-for-like flights. It would be a disaster if Aer Lingus were to be taken over by these cowboys. I have been let down too frequently flying Ryanair I would never use them again. How they stay in business by treating their customer like shit is staggering.
When Ryanair first started way back I was proud it was Irish and loved the jaunty harp on the tail and it’s corporate device.
It was welcome competition, the prices for flights with national carriers in the dark old days were hideous – so from that point of view the cheeky Irish airline did good.
Steadily they started to piss everyone off, the stupid website with it’s garish vulgarity, the silly news stories, a buffoon at the helm, safety concerns, accidents etc..
The new Aer Lingus with it’s corporate ethos of excellence, tasty food, convenient schedules, end-to-end airline service, partnerships with other airlines etc.. all at the best prices – can’t be beaten. Please don’t take that away from us.
Getting onto an Aer Lingus plane is like being welcomed home. You can’t say that about Ryanair.
I agree that you can get just as good value with aer lingus and other airlines as with Ryanair. Especially when you count things like the airports they fly into and times of the flights. London is a great example. Fly direct to Heathrow and you are directly on the subway line and less than an hour to a large part of the city. Fly to the other airports and you are an hour by bus to 1 point in the city (Paddington I think) and you then have to find your way to your hotel.
It’s a pyramid scheme… There’s a huge base of dumb and cheap people who can’t rationalise the cost/value of things, ryanair keeps just pulling from that pool. The question is what will happen when they have pissed off too many former customers and the pool isn’t there to expand any more. The answer is launch hostile takeover bids and drive out competition which is what we are seeing now.
Having said that I still have respect for Ryanair. They made it affordable for a lot of people to fly. As long as you play by the Ryanair rules you can get value. I just don’t understand some people who don’t even consider alternative airlines because they are “more expensive”
Getting on an Aer Lingus plane is like being welcomed home……….. I couldn’t have said it better myself!
I remember missing a flight home to Cork from Heath row through my own time management ineptitude. I explained my case to Aer Lingus and they were ‘No problem sir, you can take the next flight in an hour’ A similar situation occurred at JFK when a connecting flight was delayed and they put me on a flight the following morning. Do you think Ryanair would be as accommodating? They would in their F*%k.
Well done. Please keep the freedom of choice.
If Ryanair remain the only company, be sure the flight tickets prices will hike up. Not to mention the creepy idea of Ryanair being the only Irish company. It makes me shiver.
No surprise there! Best news I’ve heard today although to give Ryanair their due, they did help bring down the cost of flying which seems to have crept up again due to fees, taxes, charges, etc. Yet now, they are as expensive, if not more, than Aer Lingus!
Ryanair were once the ‘Low Fares’ airline, they’re now the ‘Low Cost’ airline. It was a cute move my the lad in my profile picture but the fact is, Ryanair isn’t that cheap compared on some routes. Good decision today, Ryanair cannot be allowed to create a monopoly.
Totally agree, a rare good decision by the EU
I don’t think it can be called a rare decision . It’s the 3rd time they’ve blocked this takeover
Sure, but I meant more generally. On the macro economic policy front, the EU, in the shape of Rehn & others are appalling, making the banking crisis a universal economic catastrophe (for the many, not the top few percent elites, that is).
Hey …O’Leary, what comes around goes around. You said vote Yes! here’s your payola.
And where are all your friends when you need them MOL? Oh wait, you have none.
Try being nice.
Not siding with O’Leary here Paul but I think you’d agree the last thing we need is another tycoon getting ‘friendly’ with the politicians.
Never mind being nice – try being polite! It has a certain value, as Mr O’Leary is just discovering.
vote yes for jobs , what a lie and a joke , it should have been vote yes to if you want to live in Africa and Asia.
I admire Michael O’Leary for how much of a success Ryanair is, but I would hate to have to only have the option of flying Ryanair out of Ireland. Imagine going on any sort of trip that involved bags or sports gear, would be an expensive disaster!
Yippeeeee.
If Ryanair was the only airline operating in Ireland I would seriously consider leaving the country
Susanna Smyth, maybe bit you would have to travel Ryanair.
Not really. There are more than 2 airlines flying out of Ireland. And there are these things called boats………
Always the ferry as well .
O’Leary’s main aim is to get rid of the competition on Spanish and Polish routes. Why? Because 20,000 Irish people bought holiday homes in Spain and regularly fly over and back (as do their families). And there are still 50,000 plus Polish people working and living in Ireland who regularly fly back home. Ryanair have already seen off several Spanish competitors (e.g. Spanair) and can easily undercut any airline who dares enter the market by even running at a loss for a time if necessary. Aer Lingus offer some competition on Spain/Poland but if O’Leary succeeds he will have a free hand and charge €300 each way to these destinations. Oh – plus “taxes” and “charges” of course.
EI are backing out of Poland, they no longer fly to Krakow…we fly there about 4 times a year and now FR are the only option. I like FR, and O’ Leary, I used to work for him, but I want choice….and this is a good decision by the EU but EI pulling oput of Krakow, when, from what I could see, they made a profit on the line is not good for competition.
Con , are those statistics official? I would love to know how you got the info that 20,000 Irish people bought houses in Spain. Was it all done in one day? How many in Portugal ? 18,277 ?
1. There is no way you can know if EI made a profit on the KRK route as the information isn’t available.
2. Do you really think they would pull off a profitable route??
The last thing we need is a Ryanair monopoly …nightmare!
You don’t get it Michael do you? You have turned full circle & forgot all the things that transformed Ryanair from a humble Irish operator into one of the leading world airlines.
Ryanair at first offered the ordinary person the opportunity to travel frequently to destinations at affordable prices,something the national airlines could not do. Ryanair also cut a lot of the red tape & stupid procedures that cut travel time and created great efficiencies.
The Ryanair of today is a totally different animal, it does not care about anything else just it’s own corporate greed. They have forced competition off some routes and then pulled out of the same routes leaving the consumer without a service. Their stringent if not bullying approach to carry on luggage has left many of the airport retailers throughout Europe with know option but to close,again leaving the consumer without a choice. They tried to bully the Irish government to force AerLingus from some areas of Dublin airport when they did’t succeed they transferred planned badly needed jobs abroad. The stories are endless…
Michael whoever told you that the Irish people wanted you to takeover & dismantle AerLingus? The truth is Michael the Irish people have fallen out of love with you where once they were so so proud of your achievements…..
The truth is that today most people look on Ryanair in the same way that they used to look on the old national carriers,time to cop on Michael!
Everyone would be travelling off this island on ferries or have to travel to Belfast international airport if OLeary had a monopoly. He’ll charge whatever he can get away with.
Does anyone seriously think he would operate any cheap fares if he got his monopoly? Whatever price he would have to pay for Aer Lingus would quickly be recouped from the flying public.
Booking a flight with Ryanair you would need a degree in computer science, no I don’t want a suitcase a hotel room, a car priority boarding I just want to book a flight and to the destination I want not 100 miles away-lottery tickets no-fake cigarettes no the last thing Ryanair want to give a passenger is a pleasant flight long live Aer Lingus
I dont mind paying the extra few quid not to be treated like a head of cattle and to actually arrive in the city I wish to travel to. i.e. Vienna-Bratislava now that was a joke I will never forget.
A good European decision that effects this country…. what a shock that is##
Can anyone explain to me how having rude customer-facing staff and not allocating seats saves Ryan Air any money what so ever?
It’s interesting that discount airlines in other countries don’t have this problem.
I fly Newcastle – Dublin at least once a month and when I book a couple of weeks in advance I have never paid more than £70 return for my flights.
Recently owing to a family funeral I booked last minute (night before I flew home) and if cost me £150.
Ryanair are the only airline flying Newcastle-Dublin. They have a “monopoly” on this route and yet are priced competitively in line with many of their other routes. They run at least one flight a day, more often two, and the times are fairly reasonable. Also, having flown on almost off of them at this stage they are all full or close to capacity… Because they are competitively priced.
Some people seem to have a weird an distorted perception of Ryanair and an equally of Aer Lingus.
sincerely,
Michael O’Leary with a different user name
Now Alan you know your not allowed speak nicely or good of Ryanair, you’ll upset all the loyal Shamrocks that comment and give out about Ryanair even though they have never even flown with them or dealt with them.
Do you not think the flights being full or close to capacity on the Dublin-Newcastle route has more to do with the monopoly you just referred to?
Fred, you seem to have missed the substantive point. Despite the relative monopoly on the Newcastle-Dublin route Ryanair continue to charge competitively for seats and as a result of that maintain close to capacity on all their flights. The fears expressed here are that they will gain a monopoly and begin gouging customers to fly out of Ireland. I have provided an example, mind you just one, of a situation where they are the only carrier on a route and retain their “low fares” principle. I do not doubt there this is reflected on other such routes.
I, for one, would not fly as often of prices didn’t allow me to.
My nearest aer Lingus served Air port is Edinburgh. It’s also served by Ryanair. On the same days (19th-21st April) the lowest Aer Lingus flight is almost twice as expensive (£82) as the cheapest Ryanair flight (£44) at similar times.
Leeds Bradford also only Ryanair serving Dublin shows a similar story as Newcastle. A consistent £76 for a tern trip to Dublin.
Sure Dublin-London may be slightly different but there is competition on that route with so many airports and airlines.
@Fred – is it Ryanair’s fault that no other Airlines fly Dublin to Newcastle
I wasn’t disagreeing with your overall point, Alan, just pointing out that price isn’t necessarily the main reason the flights are full. I agree with you that Ryanair isn’t the money-gouging demon it is often portrayed as. Of course it is in any airline’s interests to keep prices at a certain level so they have full flights.
It is interesting though, that it costs only £44 to get to Edinburgh when there is a competitor on the route and £70 to get to Newcastle when there is no competitor. Obviously there could be many factors influencing the price difference, and picking out two fares and two airports from hundreds proves nothing. Still interesting though.
Chris – of course not you big silly.
Couldn’t agree more with the court’s decision. Ryanair have brought the cost of air travel down, but these days their low prices are few and far between. The big pitfall with them, I have found, is you book a trip a few months out to get a good fare, then they completely change their schedule, screwing up your plans. You might be arriving 5 or 6 hours later than you were originally or they’ve stopped flying on that day of the week, and all because they probably saved a fiver swapping the landing slots with someone else. I’ve been caught more than a few times by this Ryanair maneuver. Their lack of commitment to customer satisfaction means they chop and change their routes as often as it suits them with little or no regard for the ripple effect the changes have on passengers. Letting them take over Aer Lingus would be a disaster for the travelling public.
Hopefully this will be the last that we hear from Ryanair and their take over bid, Also a part from flying passengers to European&US destinations Aer Lingus operate freight services which a lot of Irish and FDI companies rely on also the postal services.
Ryanair was modeled on a US airline called Southwest Airlines but MOL wanted to cut even more off for profits, Anyone that works in the industry knows that the approx 75% of the Ryanair pilots are self employed contractors, The cabin crew and the majority of ground crew are working via an agency probably not knowing if and when they could be let go with no real job security.
And as for the Ryanair website I remember a few years back while booking flights for a stag I could not find the opt out for the insurance policy.
Ended up having to call a mate who informed me that the opt out feature is in the country of origin tab between Latvia&Lithuania, Talk about a sneaky shower of f**ks and so much for MOL flying around Europe with a logo for the yes to Europe on his planes.
I want it Mummy, I need it Mummy, and I am going to get it Mummy, not yet dear Boy not this time, but you do have the taxi money rebate every year I know it is only € 93,000 euro but you cannot have it all, can you?
Much as a despise Ryanair and their apparent contempt for the customer, I recently used a similar airline in the US (for a couple of flights) and found them to be every bit as bad.
And I’d use Air Lingus more in a heartbeat if they’d expand their airports across Europe a bit more :(
Having said that, glad Ryanair won’t be monopolising the industry just yet.
Lauren, are you conjoined twins?
No matter where you fly always use http://www.skyscanner.net to ensure you’re getting the cheapest fare ! Best flight price comparison site out there and owned by an Irishman too !
I always use skyscanner, I never knew it was Irish owned!
Yep, Ray Nolan is behind it, same guy who was behind Hostelworld.com till he sold his stake
Thank God.
Michael scratching his head.
“It says here that our proposed competition remedies left them f@$%n short!!!”
Isn’t that what we’re known for?
Destination – almost.
Luggage – not enough.
Service – minimal
Value for money – mostly.
Integrity – If necessary.
What the @$%& is their problem???
A rare good decision from the comission alright. Its pretty plain to see from the responses so far that effectively no one wanted to see this happen except Ryanairs board and shareholders. They were attempting to buy a profitable airline with a €1 billion pile of cash for something like €650 million For a start, Aer Lingus’s short haul operations out of Ireland would ahve been decimated. The whole Flybe Ireland idea of allaying competition fears would have been a puppet for ryanair, gladly taking the €100 million Ryanair would “give” them to start operations, but pulling out of routes after a few years as soon as they were not obliged to continue them (3 yearsd IIRC). This would have been a disaster for the country if it had been allowed go ahead, at least the EU sayw sense and blocked it
easyJet or BA would be far more desirable would-be suitors.
I mention easyJet cause they don’t currently serve airports in the Republic, and unlike Ryanair, they fly to airports in the cities they say they’re flying to! So many (though not all) of Ryanair’s destinations save you a couple of euro, only to have to pay the same or more to waste ages on a bus, to get the bloody city it said you were going to in the first place!
I can take the no food-no drinks on intra-Europe flights. I can even take Ryanair’s ridiculously stringent application of the rules on baggage weight etc. But the prospect of the only service to “Paris” and “Frankfurt” being Beauvais and Hahn (among others) is where I’d draw the line.
And that would happen. Because no other low-cost carrier flies to these destinations. A monopoly Ryanair could easily cut service to Charles de Gaulle to save a few cent, and unless you wanted to fly with Air France at a much higher price, there’d be very little anyone could do about it.
I bet he’s sorry now he allowed himself to be used a puppet by the Yes to Lisbon shower .
No one is forcing people to travel with Aer Lingus, if they are exploiting the routes they have monopolies on other airlines will come in and seize that opportunity. It’s a business model that works, they pay tax in Ireland and use their reinvested profits to expand. As opposed to Aer Lingus which leaks money.
to travel with Ryanair*
Try reading the Aer Lingus annual reports. It’s a business that has been profitable for several years and generates a strong annual cash flow. You’ll swiftly find facts are better than propaganda.
There is some dichotomy in EU’s decision however. Air France and KLM were allowed merge, as were British Airways and Iberia. I’m sure those airlines also had a lot of routes in common they would have had to compete over.
One major thing you are missing out on there Sergé…the countries in which those airlines are based are not islands!
All four airlines serve similar destinations outside of Europe, yes, but their hubs are in different cities (Paris, Amsterdam, London and Madrid) meaning the majority of their flights originate in different places. So their main routes do not overlap.
Also there is a big difference between carriers forming an alliance to pool passengers on round the world itineraries and one airline acquiring another.
A merged Ryanair-Aer Lingus would have had 100% monopoly on all routes between Dublin and London, except those to LCA (which are comparatively few anyway). Even if Dublin is not in Europe’s largest capital cities, this route is still one of the busiest in Europe.
Already BA had to give up the route due to intense competition. A merged entity could easily force out Air France through aggressive medium-term pricing strategies.
I like flying aerlingus regional.I do not want Ryanair to take over in any way
Ryanair has no friends including his staff.Thank God he did not get his hands on Aerlingus .Always fly aerlingus and always will .Good service good customer base .Everyone could see your deal was bad for Ireland .Hey try Russia see how you get on bye bye .
ryanair is the worst airline i have Ever experanced in my life, bad service, bad staff, no careing for the passangers , horrible !
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