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Surrealing in the Years There was real catharsis in watching TDs losing the rag this week

This week was a vindication of the oppositions “they can’t put us all in detention” approach.

AS VERONA MURPHY suspended Dáil proceedings for a third and final time on Wednesday, you almost had to admire the audacity of it all. 

Within a matter of weeks the Regional Independents Group, which did not exist before the last election, have become the kingmakers in terms of getting Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the line in government formation. They have successfully elevated Murphy from their ranks to the seat of Ceann Comhairle. They have secured two cabinet postings through Noel Grealish and Sean Canney. It’s been quite the caper.

Unsatisfied with their lot, however, their remaining six TDs sought something unprecedented. Under the Regional Independent Technical Group banner, those TDs are after the right to use opposition speaking time, as if they themselves had not just agreed to back the programme for government and vote with the government on all matters great and small for the next five years. And the best part is that it was their own Verona Murphy who was set to recognise the remaining government Independents as opposition for the purposes of speaking time. Now that’s a plan coming together, worthy of a voiceover at the end of a heist movie where the main guy explains how they’d thought of every possible angle. 

Oddly enough, the actual opposition parties were not overjoyed by the idea that opposition speaking rights would be granted to TDs who don’t actually oppose the government. 

It was against this backdrop that Wednesday’s spontaneous combustion took place, with Murphy forced to suspend the Dáil after just 26 minutes. While Murphy gave the impression of a substitute teacher who wished they had simply wheeled in the television and put on a movie rather than stepping into the breach themselves, she had little choice given the implacability on the opposition benches. But of course, Murphy is no substitute and is expected to keep order in the Dáil for the next five years. At one point there were even murmurs that a vote of no confidence would be called in the Ceann Comhairle, who is just over a month in the job.

All of it could have been avoided had the government chosen to behave sensibly from the outset, rather than seeking out a procedural loophole by which the remaining Regional Independents could undercut the real opposition. Wolves in sheeps’ clothing are no new thing in politics, of course, but it doesn’t work so well when you perform the costume change for all to see.

Eventually, the matter was resolved on Thursday morning and Murphy reversed her original decision. As things stand, the non-Cabinet members of the Regional Independent Group will not be given opposition speaking time, an enormous vindication for the real opposition’s “they can’t put us all in detention” approach.

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The Dáil is usually not known for its combustibility. Outrage the likes of which we witnessed on Wednesday is usually confined to individual outbursts, such as Paul Gogarty’s infamous ‘Fuck you, Deputy Stagg’ moment. For younger readers, yes, that is the same Paul Gogarty who this week became the first TD to quote Chappell Roan in the Dáil when speaking on Thursday, during Micheál Martin’s delayed election. Give the man his due, he’s a human highlight reel. Maybe next time it all kicks off, Gogarty can defuse the situation by teaching everyone the ‘Hot To Go!’ dance. 

From the outside looking in, though, there was a certain catharsis in the frustration clearly being felt on all sides. The government’s frustration that they couldn’t get their Taoiseach in place according to their schedule, the opposition’s frustration at their speaking time being undercut by government operatives, Aontú’s presumed frustration that a Status Red weather warning had just been issued by those dastardly meteorologists at Met Éireann despite Peadar Tóibín’s recent broadside against such announcements. For once, it felt as though the anger and the confusion coursing through the Dáil was actually reflective of the irritation felt by the public when our expectations and needs are not met by those elected to protect them. 

For example, it was revealed on Thursday that the government missed its 2024 housing targets by nearly 10,000 and that the number of houses built actually fell by 6.7% compared to 2023. It is the kind of galling revelation that makes the ordinary citizen want to grab a gavel or ring a bell and start banging it and calling for the suspension of this or that until those running the country can behave themselves. 

Those who voted for any of the (real) opposition parties will likely have been enthused by the kind of energy that was exhibited on Wednesday in the dispute over speaking rights. There was also something encouraging about the way in which Ireland’s opposition parties were able to work together to push back against a blatantly unfair misuse of the Dáil’s rules. There will be a hope among many that the opposition are prepared to cause this kind of consternation not only over their own speaking time, but on matters that affect the public at large in ways that are more immediate and dangerous.

Nevertheless, it is welcome that the government has been sent a clear message early on that this sort of messing about will not be tolerated. 

The dangers of an overly farcical political system were clear for all to see this week, and while it gives me no pleasure whatsoever to write about events across the Atlantic, there really is no way around it. From Elon Musk’s apparent Nazi salute to Donald Trump’s executive orders rolling back civil rights protections that had been in place for decades, there is a palpable sense of anxiety pervading things.

In any case, the 34th Dáil is underway in earnest and a new Cabinet has been put in place. Much has been made of the fact that there are as many people named ‘James’ in senior Cabinet positions as there are women (three each, in case you were wondering). It has been an inauspicious start, to say the least. 

With the world looming on the cusp of another four years of confusion and chaos dictated by those who hold office, wealth and power in the United States, there are many who feel like losing the rag. It’s inevitable that our politicians will end up feeling the same way.

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