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A YEAR ON from her election, you would almost forget that Verona Murphy’s beginnings as Ceann Comhairle were so chaotic.
The Dáil made history at the end of 2024 by electing Murphy as the first woman to hold the role in the parliament’s 105-year history.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Wexford Independent, who faced pushback immediately from the Opposition benches.
This was because she had secured the position as part of a gentleman’s agreement made between the regional group of Independent TDs (led by Michael Lowry), Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil during government formation talks.
This deal between the three groups led to the early months of the 34th Dáil, and Murphy’s reign as Ceann Comhairle, being dominated by the speaking rights row, when shouting and chaos in the chamber became the norm.
“You need to go,” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told Murphy as the chaos reached its crescendo in March.
She accused Murphy of being “demonstrably partisan” and of lacking “the impartiality demanded of your position”.
Murphy’s command of the Irish language was also called into question, given that the Dáil is a bilingual parliament.
Her failure to pull Taoiseach Micheál Martin up after he accused Mary Lou McDonald of “ag insint bréaga” [telling lies], an accusation that is not permissible under Dáil rules, prompted uproar from the Opposition benches.
Less than four months after her election to the role, Murphy made history again as the first ever Ceann Comhairle to be challenged with a motion of confidence over what the Opposition deemed as bias in favour of the Government.
She survived it, 96 votes to 71.
One year on, how has Murphy performed? And has she won over any of her critics?
The short answer is yes.
We caught up with the whips of some of the most outspoken parties during the speaking rights row, and while they all still maintain that a terrible precedent was set by Murphy getting the gig as part of a government formation deal, they actually think she is doing a decent job in the role.
Labour whip Fingal East TD Duncan Smith said the arguments made at the beginning of the year during the row are “still valid” but on a day-to-day basis, the Ceann Comhairle “is approachable, responds to queries and engages in a manner that you would expect”.
“It doesn’t change how we feel in terms of how it came to pass, but committees and the parliament are up and running, and that’s important.
“I think her stewardship of the actual debates in the chair has been good,” Smith said.
So has Murphy won Labour over?
“I don’t think it was about winning anyone over. We have a good professional relationship. I’ve no concerns on a day-to-day basis.
“Out of respect to her, there was more than just Verona Murphy in terms of that debate. It was Michael Lowry, it was that [Regional Independent] group, it was the Taoiseach. That was the primary motivation of all the discord at the start.
I’m not going day-to-day, month-to-month, hoping that the Ceann Comhairle fails.
“It was a bad start to the Dáil in general, normal relations have bedded down, and I’ve no issues with her on a day-to-day basis,” Smith said.
A similar sentiment was shared by People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, whose party was also vocal in its disapproval of Murphy at the beginning of the Dáil term.
The Dublin South West TD told The Journal he has no personal problem with Murphy.
“I think we work reasonably well together,” he said, adding that Dáil business committee meetings run smoothly, “There’s no problem in that respect”.
“But obviously, I think it was a big mistake to allow this dilution of Opposition time. The creation of new spots for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Group, and I think that undermines our ability to hold the government to account,” Murphy said.
Murphy remains of the view that the motion of confidence was “essential” because the Ceann Comhairle “did not play the role of a neutral arbitrator” at the time.
More recently, Verona Murphy was again forced to bat off suggestions of bias, but this time in favour of Sinn Féin when she was pictured alongside party members on the plinth at Leinster House in a shot posted by the party to promote a Sinn Féin piece of legislation on civil protection orders.
Murphy requested that the photo be removed from social media and explained that she had made a mistake and thought that the event was a cross-party one.
Asked if he has any concerns about this, Paul Murphy said he accepts the Ceann Comhairle’s explanation in good faith.
Similarly, Sinn Féin whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn chalked the photo incident up as a “genuine error”.
As whip of the largest Opposition party, Mac Lochlainn was in the driving seat when it came to the Opposition’s unity against the Lowry deal and Verona Murphy’s actions at the beginning of the Dáil term.
Reflecting on the events of the year, Mac Lochlainn said he was “really pleased” with how the Opposition stood together to make the Dáil “unworkable”.
“We sent a clear message to the Government and the new Ceann Comhairle that we are not going to tolerate a Ceann Comhairle that is anything other than impartial and respects the role of the Opposition in a democracy,” Mac Lochlainn said.
As things stand, Mac Lochlainn believes the Opposition now has a “decent working relationship” with the Ceann Comhairle.
I do believe she has behaved impartially for quite a while now.
“I would give the Opposition great credit for standing together, making it clear that whatever you have planned, we are going to confront that. So at this point, it has improved, but it was a terrible start,” the Donegal TD told The Journal.
Elsewhere, Social Democrats whip Cian O’Callaghan also has a favourable view on how the Ceann Comhairle has carried out her role since the motion of confidence.
“I think she is doing very well in the job. She obviously had a very steep learning curve coming into it, but I think she has settled well into the role,” O’Callaghan said, adding that her chairing of Dáil debates is “fair”.
“She’s quite strong, which is good. When people speak over their time, no matter who they are, whether they are a senior member of Government or a backbencher, she is good at calling time on them. Which is an important part of the role,” the Dublin Bay North TD said.
How does he marry this praise with the Social Democrats’ vote of no confidence in her less than a year ago?
“There were genuine concerns over the chairing at that stage, which gave rise to the motion of confidence. I don’t think they need to be reaired now, but I think since then everyone has learned from that, and certainly the Dáil is being run well and fairly through the chair,” O’Callaghan said.
“She’s well respected across the Dáil, would be my impression.”
And as for the Ceann Comhairle’s gaelige, Murphy’s pledge to learn the language and a two-week trip to an Irish college in August seems to have placated any criticism on that front for now.
Just watch out for any more cúpla focail from the Taoiseach.
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