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INDEPENDENT TDS MICHAEL Healy-Rae, Danny Healy-Rae, and Paul Gogarty have joined forces with Independent Ireland TDs to form an Independent Technical Group in the next Dáil.
The group will include Independent Ireland TDs Michael Collins, Michael Fitzmaurice, Richard O’Donoghue, and Ken O’Flynn, as well as Independents Paul Gogarty, Michael Healy-Rae, and Danny Healy-Rae.
Independent TDs often join technical groupings to increase their speaking time in the Dáil. Earlier this week, eight other Independent TDs formed the ‘Regional Group’.
The eight TDs that have signed up to the Regional Group are Sean Canney, Marian Harkin, Barry Heneghan, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, Kevin (‘Boxer’) Moran, Verona Murphy and Gillian Toole.
These groupings will likely now also play a role in terms of communications with larger parties about the prospect of independents propping up a government.
Leader of Independent Ireland, Michael Collins, said that the ‘Independent Technical Group’ is currently in discussions with other Independents who may join the grouping before the commencement of the next Dáil.
“By forming this technical group, we are ensuring that independent voices are amplified in the Dáil, and we can better advocate for the needs of the people we represent,” Collins said.
Michael and Danny Healy-Rae were previously in a separate technical grouping with Michael Collins – in 2020, they joined the ‘Rural Alliance Group’ with Carol Nolan and Mattie McGrath.
Formerly Independents, Collins and Richard O’Donoghue co-founded Independent Ireland in 2023. The party has four elected TDs as of the recent general election, and an MEP in Ciaran Mullooly.
Independents have begun the process of registering for these technical groupings as it becomes increasingly likely that the government in the upcoming Dáil will be made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and a number of Independents to form a majority.
Elsewhere, parties on the left have begun talks – but are split on whether or not they will completely rule out going into government.
Fianna Fáil secured the largest number of seats of any party in this election with 48 candidates elected. Sinn Féin is the second largest on 39, and just one seat behind is Fine Gael on 38.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has consistently ruled out going into a coalition with Sinn Féin, citing irrevocable differences in the parties’ plans for government, particularly in relation to housing and public finances.
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Lovely
Its amazing non of the mad leftie parties will be near government for the next 5 years.
@Trump24: they are terrified of having to go into government
@Fintan Pox: Seem to be terrified of washing themselves as well.
@Trump24: Be careful, Dpeader is lurking.
@Dan Murphy: he has an interesting hard drive
@Trump24: Gratz on ur man’s win dude, you must have been chuffed!
Hard pill for the rest of us to swallow but there it is!
@Chutes: At last, a decent lefty. Have been waiting a long time to come across one on here. You wouldn’t see Brenda or Kerr doing the same. Two South Dublin snobs.
@Trump24: Apparently the housing portfolio is a hot potato topic up for grabs…… Next it will be Health, then Transport and probably finish with Justice. FF with their extra seats just want to play pass the parcel, rather than actually engaging in providing proper government… Same Sh#, just a different setup!!!
@Paul Linehan: Will be interesting to see who gets what portfolio lets keep the good times rolling.
@Dan Murphy: Lurking in the shower room, dropping his bar of soap.
@Trump24: What mad leftie parties, PB4P are the only party that would qualify as far left!
Excellent news. We need people like the Healy-Raes in government to keep the centre-left radicalism of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in check as well as the potential involvement of Labour and the Social Democrats. Michael and Danny are the finest politicians in the Dáil and they are some of the most effective legislators as well. When it comes to issues that affect their constituents, like potholes, broadband connectivity, GP access and standing up for farmers they are always on the case. Michael is one of the nicest men that I’ve ever met and he sent a beautiful condolences card to my family after my late father passed away and he even attended the funeral. They are also very successful entrepreneurs and have created hundreds of jobs in Kerry unlike all the teachers and career politicians.
@Frank O’Hara: cool … yawn. … story … yawn
@Frank O’Hara: Agree with everything but the notion that the government are centre left.
“..issues that affect their constituents, like potholes, broadband connectivity, GP access…” are all proper left wing endeavours.
@Frank O’Hara: Governments don’t create jobs. Governments create the conditions for job creation. We’re at full employment. How do you like them apples?
@Frank O’Hara: They’re greedy fks, you?
@Frank O’Hara: finest politicians ,sure aren’t they earning €9.5 million a year of the state in rented accommodation for their guest houses, yes finest politician’s alright
@aidan martin: What is corruption?
@Chutes: clown
@offside again: In what way, not that I care, just out of boredom and curiosity?
@Ian: A line from one of my favourite movies of all time!
@Frank O’Hara: to all the other wannabe trolls on the journal, this is how you do it. A small bit of work goes a long way.
@aidan martin: and another 2 million a year leasing plant hire to KCC.
@Michael o connor: Hahahahahaha. You think you’re in on the joke. It or may not be trolling bit if it is, it’s not all that smart or effective. Most of what he said stands up.
@Louis Jacob: Pothole filling, GP access, and broadband connectivity are not left-wing issues, they are matters of governance and infrastructure that transcend ideology. Addressing potholes ensures safe transportation and protects public and private property, which are priorities for individuals and businesses alike, aligning with values of preserving property rights and economic efficiency. Similarly, improving access to GPs is not a left-wing endeavour. The Healy-Raes don’t call for throwing more money at the HSE, they call for more private practice doctors in rural Ireland. Finally, expanding broadband connectivity fosters economic growth, entrepreneurial opportunities, and education access, which align with free-market principles. Labeling these positions as left-wing is simply wrong.
@Ian: I never claimed that governments can create jobs, just like governments can’t create wealth and therefore they do not have the right to take it through taxation. Full employment is irrelevant if we are unable to deal with bringing down the baseline cost of basic goods which remain pervasively high as a result of lingering inflation and government-mandated tax hikes on certain products.
@Frank O’Hara:they go to every funeral in their area, Michael spends his time goingf on about immigration while he is renting out housing to the4 govt 5
@Frank O’Hara:
1 they go to every funeral in their area.
2 the broadband plan was just that ,a roll out plan that had nothing to do with them ,I work in this sector.
3 they both go on a about immigration while making a fortune from renting housing to the government for that very purpose.
4 I have spoken with Danny ,he’s a complete feckwit.
5 the flat cap fools no one ,just another 2 millionaire landlords in the dail
@Frank O’Hara: seriously. Hard left. Even or left wing parties with real numbers are not hard left
@Frank O’Hara: potholes are council’s responsibility. Not central government.
@Chutes: Greed is a good thing buddy. Greed is one of the most powerful engines of human prosperity. Greed, properly understood, is the desire to improve one’s own condition, to seek more than subsistence, and to pursue ambitions that benefit not just the individual but the entire society. When a business owner strives for profit, they must create value, offering goods or services people voluntarily pay for. This drive for personal gain compels innovation, efficiency, and competition, all of which raise living standards and expand opportunities. The Healy-Raes are brilliant entrepreneurs and I’m proud to say that I’m greedy like them. Greed brings about lower prices, more jobs and better quality products and services for consumers. You should learn some gratitude.
@sean weir: Having millionaires in the Dáil is a good thing. We need less blowhard teachers and career politicians. I’m also glad that we have them as landlords in the Dáil. The Healy-Raes have repeatedly called out the government’s failed implementation of rent control across the country which has caused construction companies to stop building because there is no profit incentive and also that landlords flee the market as a result of this government’s hostility towards them. Michael Healy-Rae didn’t decide that we were going to have an open borders policy when it comes to immigration yet you seem to be trying to blame him. He’s making the best of a bad situation which I admire. He didn’t encourage all of the illegal immigrants to flood in to this country, Fine Gael and the Greens did.
@Frank O’Hara: Explain to us so why all those things are streets (pun intended) ahead in their constituencies. And yes, the expenditure of public finances is an ideological issue.
@sean weir: It’s funny how you attack the character of Danny Healy-Rae because you can’t attack his policies. He’s done more in a day than you’ve probably done in your whole life buddy. In case you didn’t know, the Healy-Raes own the the plant hire company that was responsible for rolling out high-speed broadband in Kerry. I know because they hooked up my uncle’s home with it. I highly doubt you work in the industry considering that you don’t know basic facts about it. I couldn’t give a damn if they go to every funeral, the fact that they take time out of their day to go to even one shows that they care about their constituents and the fact that they write individual letters of condolences to all of the different families.
@Frank O’Hara: Ignore the first part of my comment there. I thought it was Michael O Connor’s response and fot a bit confused. We are in agreement about the Healy Raes.
But ths topic if public expenditure does fall along ideological lines. Government expenditure on public services is progressive/left. Expecting the market to provide all is centre right neo liberalism.
@Louis Jacob: The Healy-Raes have always made it clear that they are for a balanced budget when it comes to government so I don’t know what you’re on about. The key different between the Healy-Raes and every other TD that is in this country is that they actually can keep promises that they make to their constituents. Every single thing that my family members have asked them to do, they have gotten it done. Honesty and effectiveness is the answer to your question. No other TD actually keeps the promises that he or she makes when running for election in the same way that the Healy-Raes do.
@Louis Jacob: Great post, and neo liberalism is essentially ” trickle down economics,” and the theory is that as the rich getting richer, the poor will able to move up …..in a word globalisation.
It’s now 40 years since concept, and have we witnessed improvements in poverty?
Has the world become more peaceful? And are rich still rich?
Meatloaf had a song 2/3 ain’t bad, well it is ….as the theory simply doesn’t work.
We need more centre left to take care of those who need it , and allow successful ideas to come to fruition and the benefits that accrue.
Finally I’m against equality of any description as if we were all equal we’d be in caves trying to get the square wheel to work, hungry and probably cold.
@Paul O’Mahoney: You are simply incorrect Paul. “Trickle-down” economics have never been advocated by any economist and the term is nothing more than bogus rhetoric used by those who hate the free-market in order to attack it. The ‘trickle-down’ theory cannot be found in even the most voluminous scholarly studies of economic theories and there hasn’t been a single supporter of supply-side economics who has ever used that term. The economic theory of reducing marginal tax rates works in precisely the opposite direction. Workers are always paid first and then profits flow upward later, if at all. Globalisation has been a roaring success. It has created hundreds of millions of jobs and has made everything cheaper and more accessible. The world is statistically more rich and more prosperous.
@Paul O’Mahoney: You must live in a fantasy world Paul because in the last 25 years, over one billion people have been lifted out of poverty thanks to free trade and globalisation. People are also healthier and are living much longer lies. The often repeated line that “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer” is simply a big fat lie. The rich have gotten 180% richer since 1980 but the poor have also gotten 40% richer so everyone wins. The real line is that “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting richer too.” Life is good buddy, take your head out of your screen for just one minute and appreciate the high quality of life that you and everyone else around you have right now. Want even more improvements? Push for even stronger free-market Capitalist policies.
@Frank O’Hara: So you don’t want any progress in this state because there might be a fairy door somewhere on the island.
@Frank O’Hara: “FF/FG centre left radicalism” this comment makes everything you post irrelevant.
As that far right message got shown to be unwanted in most of the country.
I suppose fine gaels own convict Michael lowry is lurking in the shadows?
Whats that Dublin jackeen Gogarty doing in this group.Sure isint he coming from a completely different perspective.
@Willie Marty: Gogarty’s different perspective is that he speaks a language we all understand unlike those two gob shites who sound and look like they are from a prehistoric age.
@Gerry Lamont: your a g0bs#1te
@Willie Marty: technical groups in the Dail are in respect of speaking rights. For the full speaking rights, a td needs to be part of a group of 5 tds.
@Emily Dalton: what about Mattie McGrath?
@Gerry Lamont: Yeah hes really good at saying it…and no matter who he says it too. Stagg really got both barrels that day. And the Kerry lads aren’t shy of a barb are two either…..As Paul Murphy found out.
I don’t agree with the substance of those but I admire the delivery.
@Paul O’Mahoney: Being rude and abusive is not delivery, it is just bulling and playing to the cheap seats!
A mighty day for the Kerry sheep dog. South kerry about to shoot up the ranks for best places to live in Ireland.
@Louis Jacob: To be fair, South Kerry is magnificent already.
@honey badger: Yep. The water from the parish pump is so much sweeter.
Is this Waterford Whispers?
All becoming desperate to get their snouts in the trough….
The Healy-Raes, they certainly want to be heard in the Dáil.
Healy Raes are the best example of why Ireland needs to move to a list election system
@Johnny Wilson: whats that?
@Willie Marty: the election system most of Europe uses
@Johnny Wilson: No it’s not
Funny how Independent Ireland absolutely loathe immigrants but have no problem hopping into bed with 2 millionaires who’ve made a fortune from hosting immigrants. Over €700,000 in fact!
Bringing a greedy Green into the Independent grouping is just showing how much every TD in the country loves the Greedy Greens, They PROMISED AND THEY LIED that the opposition or the government wouldn’t bring in a Greedy Green and look what the opposition is doing.
@Tommy: WTF are you on about? Who promised not to have Greens and when did they do that?
@Dermot Blaine: and What party is Paul Gogarty an original member of so?
When is an Independent not an Independent?
@Me Me: when he pretends to be an independent.
I had some time for independent Ireland before this announcement but can’t stand the Healy-Raes and their extreme parish pump politics.
So what good does this do for them? They don’t even agree with each other or do they?
@Ned: They all get more speaking rights. They don’t have to agree with each other.
Will they be using Google translate?
@Ooooooooooo: It broke when they tried it with the chuckle brothers from Kerry!
Two gobshysters and both will do eff all but abstain on everything but actually enrich at the same time
Pair of chancers riding the gullible and poorly educated people of west kerry to feather their own and their cronies nests with taxpayers money
@Mad Worldman: suppose that describes every elected TD in their constituency
@Mad Worldman: “gullible and poorly educated people of West Kerry”‘- you must be joking.
@Mad Worldman: easily know you don’t know anything when it comes to politics if you had them in your area you wouldn’t be complaining
Totally embarrassing, they can’t even speak English properly. Gombeens.
Shocker, who could have seen this coming? LOL
Flip you deputy stagg!!!
@Jacob: He’s a little deer.
The Healy Raes and a Green in the sane group. If that does not show this up for exactly what it is. A stroke to get more time, more expenses and more power on committees.
Poor Paul Gogarty having his name mentioned in the same day as those cowboys.
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