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.
EVERY WEEKEND, OUR political team casts an eye over the events inside and outside Leinster House that have people talking.
The corridors of Leinster House were quiet this week as TDs enjoy a week’s holiday from parliament, so truth be told, it was slim pickings for our winners’ category this week.
But in a week when a TD got arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and another made a feud with his brother very public, the losers’ category was much easier to fill.
Here are our political winners and losers from the week that was:
1. Holly Cairns
There was happy news from the Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns on Thursday when she announced that she is expecting her second baby.
The West Cork TD said:
“I have always said that having a family should not be disqualifying for a political party leader and I am very grateful to have the support of our parliamentary party and my constituents in Cork South-West.”
Cairns said the party’s deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan will step into the role of acting leader in October for the duration of her maternity leave.
Cairns and Fine Gael Minister Helen McEntee are the only two TDs in Ireland to have taken formal maternity leave.
When McEntee had her first child in 2020, an ad hoc arrangement had to be put in place to enable the then Justice Minister to take maternity leave, as no legislation existed for the scenario.
By the time she had her second child in 2022, the legislation was still not in place, and she again had to rely on an ad hoc arrangement.
A law allowing TDs and senators to take maternity leave was subsequently passed in 2024.
Cairns was the first serving party leader in Ireland to take maternity leave.
2. Darragh O’Brien
Look, we know, we know.
He was one of our losers last week after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published projections showing the country is way off track on its climate commitments.
But the minister for climate had a pretty good week this week with his announcement of a scrappage scheme for old cars.
The scheme, which will start taking applications in July, will see drivers offered a €5,000 scrappage grant if they get rid of a vehicle over 13 years old and get an electric vehicle.
It’s a small step in the scheme of things, but at least it is a step in the right direction.
1. Michael Healy-Rae
Family fallouts are never easy, particularly when they are playing out in the public domain, as the Healy-Raes know all too well this week.
In an explosive interview on Radio Kerry on Tuesday, Michael Healy-Rae said it was his brother Danny’s fault that he resigned as a junior minister in the Department of Agriculture back in April in the wake of the fuel protests.
The day before Sinn Féin tabled a confidence motion in the government over its handling of the protests, Danny went on Radio Kerry and called for Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to be toppled.
Michael said that interview was “what cost Kerry a ministry in agriculture”.
He said the Healy-Rae team has been damaged by the whole affair.
It is not all bad, though. Harris left the door open to Michael returning to the government one day.
2. Malcolm Byrne
Fianna Fáil’s Malcolm Byrne confirmed this week that he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving in Dublin.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the party said the Wicklow-Wexford TD informed Fianna Fáil that he was “arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after he was stopped at a mandatory Garda checkpoint in Dublin”.
It is understood that Byrne requested for a urine sample to be taken and tested, and the results are currently awaited.
Asked about what political ramifications Byrne might face, Micheál Martin said he would not pre-empt the results before making a call.
However, Byrne took some matters into his own hands on Thursday evening when he announced he was stepping down as chair of the Oireachtas committee on AI.
He insisted the decision was entirely his own.
Tell us in the comments who your winners and losers are this week.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say