2 weeks Ago
One side will call it a climbdown. The other will cry “compromise”. The rest of us may more accurately call it an overdue solution.
The settlement of the two-week-old Dáil stand-off over Regional Independent Group (RIG) TDs’ speaking rights and Dáil seating is a victory for common sense. Reprehensible behaviour on this new Dáil’s first day a fortnight ago reflected poorly on both sides. The opposition defeated the Government in a row the latter could never win, while disrupting what should have been the smoothest of all government change-overs.
Even so, their complaints were justified. A political group cannot pledge “good day and bad day” government support and then in some numbers slope off to occupy the opposition benches and use up scarce opposition speaking time. Read more An earlier solution to this confection should have been found; or, better still, it should never have been allowed to develop.
It is now well past time to move on to the vital work ahead. Ireland is a small player in an uncertain world, and it is high time to order our own affairs, controlling those things we can control. Many lessons are to be learned.
A standout one is the futility of calling the lawyers to deliver contradictory face-saving legal answers to what are from start-to-finish political questions. Independent TD Michael Lowry was at the centre of the row around Dáil speaking rights. Photo: Gerry Mooney Politicians resorting to lawyers is a depressing device reminiscent of our previous leaders’ failure on key social questions over two generations, preferring instead to allow judges, in Ireland and Europe, to help them duck harsh realities.
A senior politician learns he or she is a leader the first time they have to say “No”. The RIG and allies did well out of coalition negotiations, netting two super-junior ministries with cabinet access and three other junior ministries. This is in return for supporting what was only a fractionally minority coalition driven by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
The row arose from efforts to give additional speaking time to Michael Lowry, the controversial lead RIG negotiator; his group colleagues, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole; and ally Danny Healy-Rae, along with some other recruits. These TDs believed they were caught in a political “no-man’s land”. However, government backbenchers were quietly saying: “Welcome to our world, where government is slower, harder and sometimes means defending the apparently indefensible.
” We need politicians to focus on gathering economic storm clouds driven by global political uncertainty A good eventual by-product of all of this controversy might be a more meaningful Dáil, where every elected representative can have more opportunities to often speak for the people who elected them. More immediately, we need our politicians to focus on gathering economic storm clouds driven by considerable global political uncertainty. The last time the world’s economy crashed, in 2008, Ireland was poorly positioned as a small, open economy.
We hope there will be no repeat, but we need to step up preparations amid the persistent and intractable challenges of health, housing, climate and other matters. So, the final message today to all parties at Leinster House is: the show is over, get back to work. Read more.
